Complaints Procedure 2024
Our Complaints Policy
We are committed to providing a high quality legal service to all our clients. When something goes wrong we need you to tell us about it. This will help us to improve our service.
Our Complaints Procedure
In the first instance it may be helpful to contact the person who is working on your case to discuss your concerns and we will do our best to resolve any issues at this stage. If you would like to make a formal complaint, see below.
What Will Happen Next?
- We will send you a letter acknowledging your complaint and ask you to confirm or explain the details set out. You can expect to receive our letter within three working days of us receiving your complaint.
- We will record your complaint in our Central Register and open a separate file.
- We will then start to investigate your complaint. This will normally involve the following steps.
- we will pass your complaint to Mrs Karen Sampson, our Complaints Handling Officer within three working days.
- she will discuss the complaint with the member of staff who acted for you.
- she will reply to you in full within ten working days.
- If you are unhappy with the outcome following our Final Written Response the matter can be referred to the Legal Ombudsman. Complaints should be referred to the Legal Ombudsman not later than 6 months after our Final Written Response and no later than 12 months from when the problem first happened, or from when you should reasonably have become aware of the problem.
- You can call the Legal Ombudsman on 0300 555 0333. The Legal ombudsman is open Monday to Friday between 9am and 5pm. If you are calling from overseas, you can call +44 121 245 3050.
- You can also email the Legal Ombudsman at enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk.
- If you prefer, you can write to the Legal Ombudsman at Legal Ombudsman PO Box 6167 Slough SL1 0EH
- You can find out more about the Legal Ombudsman at the website www.legalombudsman.org.uk
Please note that the Ombudsman are there to deal with concerns about the level of service received. Where there are more serious concerns that a solicitor or solicitor’s firm have been involved in professional misconduct then reports can also be made to the Solicitors Regulation Authority, the regulator of solicitors and solicitor firms. This could be for quite unusual and serious acts of misconduct such as dishonesty, taking or losing your money or treating you unfairly because of your age, a disability or other characteristic. Obviously we do not anticipate any such problems arising and would ask that you notify the matter supervisor straight away if you have any such concerns. You can find out more about the Solicitors Regulation Authority including their contact details and professional conduct rules on their website: https://www.sra.org.uk/consumers/problems/report-solicitor/
If we have to change any of the timescales above, we will of course let know and explain our reasons why.