The “free to members” telephone legal advice service provided by Law Express and established for IHEEM members in 2004 has not been as popular as first envisaged.
IHEEM CEO John Long told the Council his recent assessment of usage since the helpline service began (measured against the cost to the Institute of funding it) showed the number of members actually using the advice line had reduced to the extent that, in 2007, just 23 calls were made, with a four-year average of under 30 calls a year. When the service was established he said the anticipated call rate was “around 250 calls a year”.
He therefore recommended to Council that the service was no longer a costeffective membership benefit.
