Complaints Policy and Procedure
Our complaints policy
We are committed to providing a high-quality legal service to all our clients. However, if at any point you become unhappy or concerned about the service we have provided then you should inform us immediately, so that we can do our best to resolve the problem. This will also help us to improve our standards.
In the first instance it may be helpful to contact the person who is working on your case to discuss your concerns and they will do their best to resolve any issues. However, if you wish to make a complaint you should follow our procedure below.
Our complaints procedure
If you have a complaint please contact us with the details. Making a complaint will not affect how we handle your case.
What will happen next?
- We will send you a letter acknowledging your complaint and if necessary asking you explain your complaint in more detail. We will also let you know the name of the person who will be dealing with your complaint. You can expect to receive our letter within 5 working days of us receiving your complaint.
- We will record your complaint in our central register and open a separate file for your complaint. We will do this within two working days of receiving your complaint
- We will then start to investigate your complaint. This will normally involve the following steps:-
- We will pass your complaint to Amanda Davies, our Client Care Partner, within 3 working days
- She will ask the member of staff who acted for you to respond to your complaint within 5 working days.
- She will then examine their response and the information in your complaint file. If necessary, she will also speak to them. This will take up to 3 working days from receiving their draft response and the file.
- Amanda Davies will then send you a written response within 12 working days from your complaint first being received at the office
- If you then wish to discuss matters further, please telephone Amanda Davies who will either discuss matters further by telephone or at a meeting, as appropriate and at your convenience.
- If after discussing matters with Amanda Davies you are not satisfied you contact us again. We will then arrange for another partner of the firm to review Amanda Davies decision within 10 working days.
- We will let you know the result of the review within 5 working days of the end of the review period. At this time we will write to you confirming our final position on your complaint and explaining our reasons.
- If we have to change any of the timescales above, we will let you know and explain why.
Please note that if Amanda Davies is the person who has been dealing with your case and you wish to complain about any matter relating to the conduct of your case, that complaint would be dealt with by Barbara Kinsey, another Partner of the firm.
Hopefully by following the above procedure we will be able to resolve the complaint to your satisfaction.
What to do if we cannot resolve your complaint
The Legal Ombudsman can help you if we are unable to resolve your complaint ourselves. They will look at your complaint independently and it will not affect how we handle your case.
Before accepting a complaint for investigation, the Legal Ombudsman will check that you have tried to resolve your complain with us first. If you have, then you must take your complain to the Legal Ombudsman:
- Within six months of receiving a final response to your complaint
and
- No more than six years from the date of act/omission; or
- No more than three years from when you should reasonably have known there was cause for complaint.
- If you would like more information about the Legal Ombudsman, please contact them.
Contact details
Visit: www.legalombudsman.org.uk
Call: 0300 555 0333 between 9:00 to 17:00
Email: enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk
Legal Ombudsman PO Box 6806, Wolverhampton, WV1 9WJ
What to do if you are unhappy with our behaviour
The Solicitors Regulation Authority can help if you are concerned about our behaviour. This could be for things like dishonesty, taking or losing your money or treating you unfairly because of your age, a disability or other characteristic. Visit their website to see how you can raise your concerns with the Solicitors Regulation Authority (/consumers/problems/report-solicitor/).
