Getting your conveyancing file and complaining: the firm, the Legal Ombudsman, the SRA and the CLC

When a conveyancing problem surfaces, two practical questions come first: how do you see what the conveyancer actually did, and who do you complain to? For what conveyancers commonly get wrong and how loss is measured, see the series overview.

Getting the file: what belongs to you

A conveyancing file is not a single object that either is or is not yours. Ownership is decided document by document. The Law Society's guidance on ownership of documents (which reflects the general law) says that usually the client owns:

• documents you sent to the firm, unless ownership was meant to pass to the firm;
• correspondence the firm sent or received as your agent, such as letters to the seller's solicitors and enquiries raised on your behalf;
• documents the firm produced where creating them was one of the purposes of the retainer, such as the transfer and other agreements;
• documents prepared by others during the retainer and paid for by you, such as experts' reports.

Usually the firm owns documents prepared for its own benefit or protection, its drafts and working papers, file copies of its letters to you, internal communications, letters you wrote to it, and its accounting records. A firm may provide copies of its own documents on a reasonable request, sometimes for a charge.

For a negligence enquiry, the documents that matter most (the report on title, search results, replies to enquiries and correspondence with the other side) are mostly on the client's side of that line.

Unpaid fees: the lien

If you owe the firm money, it may be entitled to retain papers that would otherwise be yours until the bill is paid. This is a solicitor's lien: a right to hold on to documents, not to keep them for ever. Section 68 of the Solicitors Act 1974 confirms the High Court's jurisdiction to order a solicitor to deliver up documents in their possession.

A subject access request is a different route

Under Articles 12 and 15 of the UK GDPR you have a right of access to your personal data. A subject access request (SAR) can be made to the firm as to any other organisation. The Information Commissioner's Office says organisations normally have one month to respond, extendable by up to two further months for complex requests, and normally cannot charge.

A SAR gives you your personal data, not the file: the Law Society's guidance notes a firm can extract the personal data and need not provide the full document. It is a backstop, not a substitute for the documents that belong to you.

If the firm has closed

Where the SRA has closed a firm down, it has a request process for files on its website. For a closed licensed-conveyancing practice, the Council for Licensed Conveyancers asks you to contact it directly.

Step one: the firm's own complaints procedure

Every regulated firm must have a complaints procedure and tell you how to use it. The Legal Ombudsman's Scheme Rules (rule 4.1) say that ordinarily you must use it first. The firm then has eight weeks. If the complaint has not been resolved to your satisfaction by then, you can go to the Ombudsman (rule 4.2); the Ombudsman can also step in sooner in exceptional cases or where the relationship has broken down.

Step two: the Legal Ombudsman

The Legal Ombudsman handles service complaints about solicitors and licensed conveyancers. Its own FAQ is explicit that its job is not to decide whether what happened amounted to professional negligence, but to consider the level of service.

Time limits (current Scheme Rules, in force since 1 April 2023):

• ordinarily within one year of the act or omission, or within one year of when you should reasonably have known there was cause for complaint (rule 4.5);
• and, if the firm's final response prominently told you about the Ombudsman and the deadline, within six months of that response (rule 4.4);
• the Ombudsman may extend any of these where it is fair and reasonable (rule 4.7).

Older guidance referring to six years reflects the rules before April 2023. The Ombudsman consulted on further rule changes in 2026, so its website is the place to confirm the current position.

Remedies. The Ombudsman can direct the firm to apologise, pay compensation for loss, pay compensation for distress and inconvenience, put right an error at its own cost, take other action in your interest, or limit, refund or waive its fees (rule 5.38). There is a £50,000 limit on the total of compensation for loss, compensation for distress, and the cost of putting things right (rule 5.43). The limit does not apply to an apology, interest, a fee reduction or refund, or your costs of pursuing the complaint (rule 5.45).

The regulators: conduct, not compensation

• The SRA regulates solicitors. It deals with conduct: dishonesty, taking client money, shutting down without notice, breaking its rules. In its own words, it "can't make a solicitor say sorry to you or pay compensation to you", and it does not investigate service.
• The Council for Licensed Conveyancers regulates licensed conveyancers. Service complaints still go to the firm and then the Legal Ombudsman; conduct concerns go to the CLC. The CLC also operates a Compensation Fund for loss in specific circumstances arising from negligence, dishonesty or failure to account by a CLC practice.

The SRA Compensation Fund is not a route for ordinary negligence. It is discretionary, and for negligence it applies only where the firm should have had indemnity insurance but did not. It will not pay where the firm was insured but the insurer refuses or becomes insolvent, and an application must ordinarily be made within 12 months of when you knew, or should have known, of the loss. A closed firm is usually still insured: the SRA explains that the policy in place when the firm closed extends for a further six years of run-off cover.

How a complaint and a negligence claim interact

• A complaint does not stop the limitation clock. The Professional Negligence Pre-Action Protocol states it "does not alter the statutory time limits for commencing court proceedings", and the same is true of a complaint. See time limits for conveyancing claims.
• Accepting an Ombudsman decision ends the court route. If you accept a final decision it becomes binding, and neither side may start or continue legal proceedings about the same subject matter (rules 5.49–5.50). If you reject it, it has no effect on your legal rights (rule 5.54).
• The Ombudsman may decline. It can dismiss a complaint where a court is already dealing with the issue, or where a court would be more suitable (rule 5.7).

Which route fits depends on the size of the loss, the time left and the evidence: questions for a solicitor once the file is in hand.

What a solicitor will want from you

• The file, or your written request for it and the firm's reply, including any reference to unpaid fees.
• The engagement letter, report on title, search results and replies to enquiries.
• Your complaint, the date you made it, and the firm's final response.
• Any Ombudsman correspondence, and whether a decision has been issued, accepted or rejected.
• The date you first realised something was wrong.

Run the free case check for an estimate of where you stand on time.

This guide is general information about the law of England and Wales. It is not legal advice. A complaint to the firm, the Legal Ombudsman or a regulator does not stop the limitation clock for a court claim.