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 standards.
We want to give you the best possible service. However, if at any point you become unhappy or concerned about the service we provided then you should inform us immediately, so that we can do our best to resolve the problem.
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. If you would like to make a formal complaint, then you can read our full complaints procedure detailed below. Making a complaint will not affect how we handle your case.
Our Complaints Procedure
If you have a complaint, please contact us with the details.
What will happen next?
- We will send you a letter acknowledging receipt of your complaint within three working days of us receiving the complaint, enclosing a copy of this procedure.
- We will then investigate your complaint. This will normally involve passing your complaint to our Client Care Partner, who will review your matter file and speak to the member of staff who acted for you and then contact you by telephone to discuss the matter.
- If appropriate, the Client Care Partner will then invite you to a meeting to discuss and hopefully resolve your complaint. He will do this within fourteen working days of sending you the acknowledgement letter.
- Within five working days of the meeting, the Client Care Partner will write to you to confirm what took place and any solutions he has agreed with you.
- If you do not want a meeting or it is not possible to have a meeting, the Client Care Partner will send you a detailed written reply to your complaint, including his suggestions for resolving the matter, within twenty one working days of sending you the acknowledgement letter.
- At this stage, if you are still not satisfied, you should contact us again and we will arrange for your Client Partner, or another Partner, to review the decision.
- We will write to you within fourteen working days of receiving your request for a review, confirming our final position on your complaint and explaining our reasons.
- We have a total of 8 weeks to resolve your complaint. If we have to change this or any of the timescales above, we will let you know and explain why.
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 complaint with us first. If you have, then you must take your complaint to the Legal Ombudsman:
- Within six month of receiving a final response to your complaint; and
- No more one year from the date of the act or omission being complained about or no more than one year from when the complainant should have realised there was cause for complaint.
If you would like more information about the Legal Ombudsman, please contact them as follows:
- Visit: www.legalombudsman.org.uk
- Call: 0300 555 0333 between 10.00 to 16.00, Monday to Friday
- Email: enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk
- Legal Ombudsman PO Box 6167, Slough SL1 0EH
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.
Policy Management/Review
This Policy is reviewed annually to verify it is in effective operation across the practice. The Partner responsible for this Policy is Adam Keeble.