Legal Ombudsman's Scheme Rules have changed from 1 April 2023

The changes can be broken down into four areas. They are:

1. a change to its time limits;
2. its discretion to decline to issue a formal Ombudsman decision, if no substantive comments are provided, in response to an investigator’s case decision, if neither party raise any substantive objection to the findings of the case decision;
3. a change to the Ombudsman’s discretion to dismiss or discontinue a complaint in certain circumstances; and
4. minor changes to review and refresh the existing Scheme Rules, including new dates and correcting previous typographical errors.

• The guide sets out what the changes are and how they apply
• The ICAEW Engagement Letter helpsheet templates will be updated to reflect these changes