Confidence plays a key role in how people experience the legal system.
Our Individual Legal Needs Survey (ILNS) provides detailed evidence on how people across England and Wales deal with legal problems. One clear finding is that people’s confidence in handling legal issues strongly shapes whether they get help, how they experience the process, and the outcomes they feel they can achieve.
Who is more likely to have low legal confidence?
The survey shows that legal confidence is unevenly distributed:
- women are 11% more likely than men to have low legal confidence
- people earning under £32,000 are 13% more likely to report low confidence
- people with disabilities whose day‑to‑day activities are limited “a lot” are 9% more likely to have low legal confidence than those without a limiting condition
How does low legal confidence affect behaviour?
Legal confidence impacts a person’s ability to recognise a legal problem, understand their options, and navigate the system to resolve it. People with low legal confidence are much less likely to know where to turn when they face a legal problem.
- 44% of people with low legal confidence say they do not know where to find good legal information, compared with 13% of those with high confidence.
- One-quarter say they struggle to look for prices and shop around, compared with just 8% of people who feel confident.
- Nearly half (45%) take no action at all when they are dissatisfied with the service they receive and are also more likely to be stressed or face a financial loss.
Low legal confidence also makes people less likely to secure help from a solicitor and more likely to disengage early in the legal process.
How does this affect outcomes?
The consequences are significant. People with low legal confidence are:
- 10% more likely to have an unmet legal need
- 15% more likely to experience stress when dealing with a legal issue
- 6% more likely to suffer a financial loss.
Over a third (35%) say the result of their legal matter was worse than they had hoped for. Only 60% felt the process was fair, compared with 79% among those with high legal confidence.
These findings show how uncertainty and lack of confidence create practical barriers to justice, even where services exist.
Why this matters
Low legal confidence affects people’s ability to participate in the legal system. It increases the risk of unresolved problems and poor outcomes, and it reinforces wider inequalities in access to justice.
Insights from the ILNS help regulators, policymakers, and providers better understand where the system is failing people and where change is most needed.
To explore this in more detail, you can read the full Individual Legal Needs Survey report or our “topic report” focussing on the question of legal confidence.
If you are interested in using or discussing this research, contact the LSB Research team at research@legalservicesboard.org.uk
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