By Anita Rice



The Legal Complaints Service (LCS) has branded a report claiming it has short-changed some sick miners seeking repayment of fees as 'unduly harsh' and 'negative'.



In her second report on miners' compensation, Zahida Manzoor, the Legal Services Complaints Commissioner, blamed management and administrative flaws for disparities in recouping wrongly-charged fees, in the levels of additional financial awards for distress/inconvenience, and in case handling.



However, LCS chief executive Deborah Evans hit back at the findings: 'The report is unduly harsh and takes a very negative view of activities that have actually been positive... I do not think there are any fundamental management or administrative problems.



'We have shown massive improvement between 2006 [when the first report was published] and 2007... we are learning as an organisation, and have done so with the miners' complaints, but we are not a fundamentally flawed organisation.'



The report claims miners who opted for LCS conciliation rather than to have their complaint formally adjudicated lost out, on average, to the tune of £207. Ms Manzoor said that only the most persistent miners achieved adjudication.



In 11% of complaints closed in 2007 included in the report, caseworkers did not explain the option of adjudication, while some wrongly described awards as low as £19 as 'significant compensation' when encouraging miners to accept an offer. 'Significant' awards are officially defined as being between £200 and £500.



'I highlight the case of six individual miners who... despite being encouraged to conciliate by the LCS refused and insisted their complaints should be investigated and adjudicated. Through their persistence each of these miners has, on average, correctly received an additional £1,700 compensation from their solicitors,' Ms Manzoor said.



However, Ms Evans pointed out that complaints are usually resolved within four to six months if conciliated rather than an average of 13 months if adjudicated. Claimants using adjudication would be automatically entitled to more compensation for distress and inconvenience because their claim had taken longer to resolve.



As to the 11% of cases in which claimants were not advised about adjudication, Ms Evans said this only showed that there was no evidence on the file to prove the miners were not appropriately advised. 'In 89% of cases the evidence is on the file we did... this is not an automated system... and in other organisations this sort of result would be regarded as positive.'



Despite the criticisms, Ms Manzoor said she believed 'this situation can be turned around quickly' and has told the LSC it has until 31 March 2008 to write to every miner, adviser or relative whose complaint it has conciliated offering to re-open their case.



The LCS says it will discuss contacting former claimants with the commissioner because of resource implications and because it may hinder progress with other issues. It is currently investigating how to move forward its initiative to actively help miners bring complaints if they want to.