A recent conveyancing market report has documented a host of insights from industry experts on what conveyancers can do and how the property purchase process can change to help firms deliver an exceptional client experience, following data from the Legal Ombudsman (LeO) showing complaints have risen for a third year running.
In Access Legal’s annual report, ‘The state of the UK Conveyancing Market’, property transaction data, consumer surveys and other market-leading insights have been brought together with commentary from legal sector experts to give a detailed and in-depth look at the state of play in conveyancing.
The report looks at how conveyancers can improve the client experience in the wake of the Legal Ombudsman data, which shows a year-on-year increase in complaints for the past three financial years, with 2,216 complaints relating to residential conveyancing accepted by LeO in 22/23, compared to 1,385 two years previous.
These complaints largely relate to poor communication (26.35% of complaints in 22/23) and delays or failure to progress (23.14% of complaints in 22/23). Though this data shows a negative trend, industry experts believe conveyancers can, and are, ‘turning the tide’.
Speaking on how firms are determined to improve client experience, Mike Connelly, founder of Legal Bricks shares:
“All conveyancers want to ensure their clients are informed and expectations managed. No one wants a situation to escalate to a complaint, and want to avoid this due to the time that process takes away from fee earning and the financial and reputational ramifications, if that process doesn’t come out favourably. Conveyancers are already well on their way to ‘turning the tide’ as improving the client experience sits at the heart of many of the firms’ strategies we speak to, whether through support and upskilling teams or an investment in client facing tech or changes in client policy and practice, or a mix of all.”
Rob Hosier, director at pioneering mobile app inCase, recently acquired by Access Legal to help firms engage and communicate better with clients, highlights how more practices recognise that mobile client apps can make an impact to how they can communicate throughout a transaction to boost client satisfaction.
He shares: “Clients are demanding more transparency, expedited procedures, and improved communication during the conveyancing experience. They want regular updates, online document completion, and round-the-clock access to case information. Mobile apps make this possible as they offer real-time updates, and help streamline the conveyancing process while enhancing the client experience. We’re seeing a considerable rise of firms investing in client apps as part of their strategy to improve the end client experience and I expect this trend to continue as firms prioritise client satisfaction over the next year.”
Dan Salmons, CEO at Coadjute, an open ecosystem of purpose-built solutions for the property market, said in the report that “the way the property purchase market works currently needs to change to become more streamlined and transparent”.
He explains further: “The home buying and selling process in the UK is complex, slow, and opaque for everyone involved, but it doesn’t need to be this way and there are solutions available. Digitising the process from end-to-end is key and there are systems available to make this possible. While a fully digital process may not be easy for every conveyancer, many are adopting a more digital way of working so that clients can feel the benefits.”
‘The state of the UK Conveyancing Market’ from Access Legal, part of The Access Group, has insights from nine legal sector experts as well as a full picture of property market transactions from 2023 across England and Wales – detailing the top 10 firms by completions in each region. Thes report also focuses on compliance and a number of key issues affecting it, including CQS protocol, climate change and the challenges and opportunities for law firms.
Access Legal launched in 2021 and more than 3,500 UK law firms currently benefit from its solutions. Its client portfolio includes The MAPD Group, Minster Law, Wolferstans Solicitors and Neves Solicitors LLP. Access Legal is part of The Access Group, one of the UK’s leading providers of business management software to mid-sized organisations in the UK, Ireland, USA and Asia Pacific.
For more information about how Access Legal can support a law firm, visit: https://www.theaccessgroup.com/en-gb/legal/ or click here to download your copy of ‘The state of the UK Conveyancing Market’.
This article was published by Mike Connelly for The Access Group as part of their advertising agreement with Today’s Conveyancer.
The views expressed in this article are those of the submitter and not those of Today’s Conveyancer.
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