Challenging an Ombudsman

Jane_Mortimer

Firstly I’m sorry if I’m in the wrong area. As going to the Ombudsman was over a renting issue I thought it best to post here.

I went to the Legal Ombudsman with my complicated issue. Their preliminary decision was against us because they said we should have told our solicitor particular information to help them advise us. Fortunately for me I had told them this information and had the emails to prove it. I had not included them as I did not know the Ombudsman needed them. I told the case worker and she agreed they should be included and I sent them.

Now I’ve had the final decision. It says the same thing as the preliminary judgement that I should have informed my solicitor of certain information. However it also quotes clauses from my lease but the problem is the quotes have nothing to my lease it’s as if they were looking at someone else’s lease. I have told them that this and their attitude is tough it’s final. Is there anything I can do my Ombudsman decision seems to have been concluded using someone else’s lease and not including the information I sent. It seems potty.

NeilCr

Have you asked them if they have a complaints/appeal process?

Jane_Mortimer

They have just said this is the Final Decision and I can’t complain further.

NeilCr

I was thinking of their own internal complaints procedure - about how they have dealt with your complaint. There is nothing obvious on their site but you could ask if they have one (they should I would have thought) and how to invoke it

Jane_Mortimer

Thank you for that suggestion. I have reread their reply saying the decision is final and I notice that it says my comments would have been sent in. I didn’t send them comments I sent emails that gave the evidence I was asked to provide. I am wondering if these emails were ever sent, particularly as the original case worker has changed, or whether I am nit picking over the word comment. It still doesn’t change the fact that the quotes didn’t come from my lease.

I will wait for them to come back to me over this and if negative will go down the route you suggest. Even if the decision is against me I really want to know why they are quoting from someone else’s lease!

Thank you

Comms69

Jane_Mortimer wrote: »

Firstly I’m sorry if I’m in the wrong area. As going to the Ombudsman was over a renting issue I thought it best to post here.

I went to the Legal Ombudsman with my complicated issue. Their preliminary decision was against us because they said we should have told our solicitor particular information to help them advise us. Fortunately for me I had told them this information and had the emails to prove it. I had not included them as I did not know the Ombudsman needed them. I told the case worker and she agreed they should be included and I sent them.

Now I’ve had the final decision. It says the same thing as the preliminary judgement that I should have informed my solicitor of certain information. However it also quotes clauses from my lease but the problem is the quotes have nothing to my lease it’s as if they were looking at someone else’s lease. I have told them that this and their attitude is tough it’s final. Is there anything I can do my Ombudsman decision seems to have been concluded using someone else’s lease and not including the information I sent. It seems potty.

Can you provide a bit of background?


Why did you have a solicitor, what was the issue, what did the solicitor do wrong? What was the outcome of legal action?

Jane_Mortimer

It’s so very long drawn out story and I have a problem with my hands so will try and keep it down. It concerned a dilapidations claim, the Ombudsman are saying that I should have told my solicitor about the condition of the property before I rented it so that they could advise me correctly and that I only made these comments after the settlement. However the 8 emails that I sent to the Ombudsman show that I was telling them of the condition even before a claim was made against me. The Ombudsman in his decision quotes from my lease to show my obligations but the quotes don’t even resemble slightly anything in my lease. When I say quotes I don’t mean that these are his interpretations of the lease they are in quote marks.

agrinnall

Have you gone through the full process of complaining about the Legal Ombudsman, as described in their Factsheet?


http://www.legalombudsman.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Unhappy-with-our-service-factsheet.pdf


If you have then I suspect you'd be in the realms of a Judicial Review if you wanted to take it any further.

Comms69

Jane_Mortimer wrote: »

It’s so very long drawn out story and I have a problem with my hands so will try and keep it down. It concerned a dilapidations claim, the Ombudsman are saying that I should have told my solicitor about the condition of the property before I rented it so that they could advise me correctly and that I only made these comments after the settlement. However the 8 emails that I sent to the Ombudsman show that I was telling them of the condition even before a claim was made against me. The Ombudsman in his decision quotes from my lease to show my obligations but the quotes don’t even resemble slightly anything in my lease. When I say quotes I don’t mean that these are his interpretations of the lease they are in quote marks.

You keep saying rented; were you the landlord? Sorry it's confusing because a solicitor isn't really needed for any of this kind of thing.


If I understand you were letting a property, as a landlord, but there were issues with the condition. You maintain to told the solicitor about this before commencing the let (no idea why you would, but whatever) and thereafter you were taken to court (either by tenants or council) for provided a property in disrepair / not fit for habitation. You lost and the solicitor blames you for not providing the correct evidence. You took this to the ombudsman, who for whatever reason has disregarded your evidence also?

Jane_Mortimer

I have had a final decision from the Ombudsman and been told by an investigator there is nothing I can do about it. However both NeilCr and yourself have suggested complaining about the service which I think is probably my best option. It is very interesting that the investigator has not suggested this to me.

I do feel alarmed that somebody in such a senior position could not read from the lease provided.

Jane_Mortimer

Coms69

I was the leasee