Competition watchdog launches probe into unregulated legal and will writing services

The Competition and Market Authority (CMA) launched a consultation on Tuesday into unregulated legal providers in the UK, including those that provide will writing.

The purpose is to draft guidelines to help people understand and comply with their existing obligations under consumer protection law.

Those providers that offer will writing, online divorce, and pre-paid probate services in the UK are amongst those that are the target of this consultation.

The competition watchdog published a draft guidance on Tuesday as part of its investigation into will-writing and other unregulated legal services which was launched last July. The CMA heard from people’s experiences when buying these services.

In January, the CMA revealed it had received a wide range of information from consumers, legal services providers and other interested stakeholders, and said it would provide a further update on its investigation in Spring 2024.

The draft guidance it published on Tuesday stated that is is estimated that there are at least 3,800 unregulated businesses providing legal services in England and Wales alone, with the largest number in the area of wills and estate administration.

The providers are being warned that by ensuring their practices are consistent with consumer protection law, businesses can mitigate the risk of harm to consumers, minimise the risk of enforcement action being taken against them, while also supporting trust in unregulated legal services generally.

The regulator also noted that if the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Bill is brought into force, the CMA will have the power to be able to determine whether consumer law breaches have occurred, and to impose penalties for such breaches.

For the consultation, the CMA has invited interested parties to respond in writing to the questions set out in the consultation document by 5pm on 13 June 2024.

The regulator said it plans to publish the final version of the compliance guidance, and an anonymised summary of the responses that fall within the scope of the consultation together with a list of all respondents, later this year.