Claims Management Activity in Housing Disrepair: Call for Evidence

Overview

This call for evidence seeks views on cases where tenants consider seeking redress through the County Court by bringing a claim against their landlord for housing disrepair, and the role of claims management activity. 

In housing disrepair and other types of cases, organisations such as claims management companies sometimes seek out people who might be able to make a legal claim so they can pass those claims on to law firms and earn a referral fee. Some solicitors also directly seek out individuals who might be able to make a claim. Claims management can play a valuable role in connecting tenants with legal remedies. However, we are aware that there may be cases where unscrupulous activity is resulting in vulnerable tenants being exploited.

For more information please refer to this web page: Housing disrepair claims - GOV.UK

Why your views matter

We want to gather evidence to understand more about the role and impact of claims management activity in redress for housing disrepair issues.

We welcome responses from all interested parties, in particular tenants, landlords, solicitors and claims management companies.

The questions are broad ranging, and we know that respondents will have different areas of expertise, so the questions aimed at specific groups (e.g. landlords or tenants) are grouped together. Questions for all participants are at the beginning and the more technical questions, which everyone can answer but where we would particularly welcome views from legal professionals are at the end.

What happens next

We will use this evidence to determine if any claims management activity conducted by claims management companies and solicitors is causing issues in the process of redress for housing disrepair, how big these issues may be and what form they take, and whether government action is necessary. Recognising that claims management companies and solicitors fall under the oversight of regulators that are independent of government, the evidence may also be shared with the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA), the Legal Services Board (LSB), and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to inform discussions with them on whether any regulatory improvements are needed.