The SRA's complaints handling consultation - where we are and what it means for your firm
Anne Austin
Director
Those who follow Compliance Lifeline closely will know that first-tier complaints handling has been high on the SRA’s regulatory agenda for some time.
We covered the original consultation back in June 2025 in some detail. Since then, there have been significant developments, including a brand new consultation that opened just days ago, so we think it is worth setting out the full picture.
A quick recap: the 2025 consultation
The SRA’s first-tier complaints consultation ran from 30 May to 1 August 2025 and received just 75 written responses. The proposals included standardising the definition of a complaint, requiring complaints information to be clearer and more proactively accessible to clients, and collecting more complaints data from firms. The SRA submitted its application to the Legal Services Board for formal approval of the proposed regulatory changes on 14 October 2025.
Those proposals were subsequently withdrawn. The LSB did not approve them as submitted.
What has replaced them
On 3 July 2026 the SRA launched a further public consultation on additional new complaints handling rules, developed in close discussion with the LSB. This consultation runs until 1 September 2026, and we would encourage firms to engage with it before that deadline.
The two proposed new rules are clear and specific. First, when a complaint is first made, firms will be required to provide the client with a timeline for resolution. Second, throughout the complaints process, firms will be required to give clients regular updates on progress. The consultation also proposes a new Complaints Handling Requirements Statement – a document designed to consolidate existing and new requirements into one place for firms.
The SRA has confirmed that this consultation will not revisit the proposals from 2025. These are additional requirements, and the direction of travel is unambiguous.
The data driving this
It is worth understanding why the SRA is pursuing this so determinedly. In 2025, firms reported receiving more than 41,000 first-tier complaints – the highest number since the SRA began collecting data in 2012. The Legal Ombudsman found complaints handling had been poor in 46% of the complaints it investigated in the first three quarters of 2025-2026, citing inconsistent or complex complaints processes and defensive attitudes from firms when dealing with complaints.
Against that backdrop, the SRA’s intent is clear. Firms need to be more transparent, more communicative and more consistent, and the regulatory framework is being tightened to reflect that, whether or not the profession considers the current rules sufficient.
What this means for your firm right now
The new rules are not yet final, but the direction is clear enough to act on now. Firms that are already providing clients with a resolution timeline at the point a complaint is first made, and keeping them updated throughout, are ahead of the curve. Those that are not should be thinking about how to build that into their processes before rules are in force rather than after.
We would also encourage firms to consider submitting a response to the consultation before 1 September. The SRA does listen to the profession – the withdrawal of the 2025 proposals demonstrated that – and practical experience of managing complaints is exactly the kind of evidence that helps shape proportionate regulation. If you would like support in preparing a response, we are happy to help.