There are 770 open claims against the Solicitors Compensation Fund which relate to mortgage fraud – equating to £173 million – according to new figures from the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA).

This is a significant increase when compared to a year ago, when there were only 323 open claims, worth £103 million.

There has long been speculation in the industry that claims against solicitors with regards to mortgage fraud are likely to rise in the future and, with the number of claims more than doubling in one year, it seems that complaints are increasing.

Overall, the value of claims against the fund now stands at £214 million, which is an increase of 27 per cent year-on-year.

280 of the mortgage claims are, however, currently held in abeyance awaiting the outcome of potential insurance settlements. The SRA has also revealed that it is attempting to find how many of the claims being made are actually from lenders who want to preserve their position.

In addition, there have been 42 claims so far this year – worth £11 million – regarding unredeemed mortgages.

Legal futures revealed that the SRA usually ends up paying out significantly less than the total value of claims submitted; during the last year it has closed claims totalling £87 million but has only paid out 26 per cent of that, coming to £22 million.