The Legal Ombudsman is the body responsible for investigating complaints between consumers and regulated legal service providers in England and Wales.
We resolve complaints about the standard of service legal providers have given. We cover most legal services, including those involved in wills, family issues, buying or selling a house, personal injury claims, employment, or litigation. Common complaints we look into include those about delays, costs, and poor communication.
A second vital part of our work is the sharing of learning and insight from the complaints we see. This promotes better complaint handling, prevents future complaints and helps drive higher standards in legal services.
The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman looks at complaints about councils and some other authorities and organisations, including education admissions appeal panels and adult social care providers (such as care homes and home care providers). It is a free service. Our job is to investigate complaints in a fair and independent way - we do not take sides. By law, some kinds of complaint cannot be considered. Examples are personnel complaints and complaints about the internal running of schools.
The New Homes Ombudsman Service resolves complaints from people who have purchased a new home, and are dissatisfied with an aspect of the service they have received, or the quality of the new home. The service covers homes built by developers who are registered with the New Homes Quality Board and applies to a wide range of issues arising in the first 2 years after someone reserved or purchased the property.
Launched in May 2022, it does not apply retrospectively; meaning only those who reserve or purchase a new home from a developer after they have become an activated Registered Developer with the New Homes Quality Board can complain to the ombudsman. It is anticipated that developers will become Registered Developers throughout 2022. You can check whether your developer is a Registered Developer on the New Homes Ombudsman Service website.
NIPSO investigates unresolved complaints against public bodies in Northern Ireland. These include hospitals, care homes, government departments, local councils, schools, and housing associations.
The OIA is the independent student complaints scheme for England and Wales. We review unresolved complaints from students about their higher education provider, and if we find the provider has done something wrong we make Recommendations for it to put things right. Our service is impartial and free of charge for students. We also share learning from complaints and work with other organisations to help improve policy and practice in the higher education sector and promote fairness for students.
The Office of the Ombudsman is independent of government and examines complaints from people who feel they have been unfairly treated by a provider of a public service. We can examine complaints against most organisations that deliver public services. These include government departments, local authorities, the HSE, nursing homes, publicly-funded third level education bodies, and bodies providing accommodation for asylum seekers and refugees under 'direct provision'.
The Bermuda Ombudsman investigates complaints about the administrative actions of Public Authorities, including Government Departments, Boards and Bodies established or funded by the Legislature.
Parliamentary Ombudsman with responsibility for maladministration, complaints about police conduct, whistleblower complaints, freedom of information and data protection.
The Ombudsman for Children’s Office (OCO) is an independent office. We have two main roles; to deal with complaints made by or for children and young people about the actions of public organisations, and to promote the rights and welfare of children and young people under 18 living in Ireland. We promote children’s rights and welfare by finding out what children and young people are concerned about and highlighting their opinions to people who make decisions that affect them. We help people, especially young people, to find out about children’s rights and how those rights can be respected and made real. We advise Government and others to help make sure laws and plans respect children’s rights. We encourage public organisations to promote children’s rights in the work that they do. We also carry research to get a better understanding of issues that are important in children and young people’s lives.