Ministry must order probe into legal scandal
WHEN will the victims of the latest “scandal upon a scandal” be freed from their torment?
It’s a question which focused the minds of MPs as they listened to shocking tales of law-abiding people who have crippling legal bills hanging over them like a “Sword of Damocles”.
During the Westminster Hall debate, Holly Lynch, the Labour MP for Halifax, described how some constituents were facing hardship after being told they could pursue no-win, no-fee cases against companies that installed faulty cavitywall insulation in their homes. Ms Lynch’s constituents were among hundreds of clients who instructed Sheffield firm SSB Law to claim on their behalf – but the firm went into administration in January.
Many clients say they are being pursued by lawyers representing the insulation firms’ insurance companies for thousands of pounds in incurred costs.
To quote one of the victims: “I can’t work properly and me and my wife can’t sleep. The amount in the enforcement notice is always on my mind.”
Apart from outlining the terrible plight of her constituents, Ms Lynch called for Government intervention. Some of the enforcement notices have been paused and she welcomed the Solicitors Regulation Authority’s (SRA) action to investigate SSB Law, although it is not expected to report until the autumn.
She urged the Minister – Amanda Solloway – to liaise with her colleagues to see what else can be done to hold the insurers and law firms involved to account, adding: “I ask the Minister to undertake a review into the whole sorry mess. It is a scandal upon a scandal, which has affected these vulnerable people, up to 1,400 of them, who in some cases have chronic problems with damp and mould in their homes as a consequence of a government-funded scheme.
“They were then preyed on by unscrupulous assessors and lawyers, falling through the cracks of regulation and mismanagement, and we find that the people who could least afford or least deserve it were picking up the bill, driving them into debt and despair.”
Ms Solloway described it as a “dreadful situation” adding: “I do not want to see this issue passed around like a football, because this is an urgent matter for the households impacted. I therefore guarantee that I will be writing to the Ministry of Justice, asking them to encourage the SRA to accelerate the investigation for affected homeowners, as they deserve to have this matter addressed swiftly.”
The sentiments expressed by the Minister are welcome, but a co-ordinated approach across government departments is needed to get to the heart of this scandal.
It’s important to keep the Government and legal system apart. However,giventhe scale of this scandal, and the distress caused by “parasitic” law firms, surely there is a case for decisive action from the Ministry of Justice?
Surely the Ministry can order a probe into this terrible saga and see what lessons can be learned? A judge-led independent inquiry could analyse the chain of events which left Ms Lynch’s constituents living in terror. The “profound lifechanging impact” of this scandal must shock us all.