How we are funded

Our services are free to consumers.

Like most ombudsman schemes, our funding comes from an annual levy that legal practitioners pay to their regulators.

We do not receive government funding for our complaint services, so our work is free to the taxpayer. This helps to maintain our independence from the legal profession and from government.

In certain circumstances, practitioners may also have to pay an individual complaint levy.

This means the more disputes a provider can resolve in-house, the less they have to pay us, which is an incentive to improve their customer service and complaint handling.

Every year we consult with professional organisations and consumer groups about our proposed budget for the next financial year. Following the consultation, the budget will be agreed and then laid before the Scottish Parliament.

The SLCC's financial year runs from 1 July to 30 June.

Our latest budget is here. The budget includes the levies we have set for the year.