The Legal Services Board (LSB) is the body responsible for administering public funding for litigation for members of the public. The public funding available for divorce and related matters has been severely restricted in recent years.
The LSB has carried out some research which reveals that 10% to 13% of the market share for divorce services is provided by unregulated organisations. An unregulated provider is one which is not subject to external regulation; designed to protect the public if things go wrong.
Whilst the satisfaction rate for the unregulated providers was comparable to regulated providers, the solicitor's professional body the Law Society said:
'Many legal services can be provided by regulated and unregulated providers. If legal services are purchased from a solicitor, buyers can rest assured that the service is fully regulated, that insurance is in place, and that in the event that something goes wrong they have the right to redress.
Unfortunately, however, it is not always clear to consumers whether they are buying from a regulated provider. As the LSB research shows, there are a number of unregulated providers supplying the same legal services as solicitors and many buyers simply will not know that they won't get the same level of protection from an unregulated provider if something goes wrong.'
If you want to discuss your divorce, contact us.