Complaints Policy
Our Commitment
Our Firm is committed to providing a high quality legal service to all its clients. If you feel we have not provided the quality of service you expected, please let us know and we will carry out an immediate and thorough review. In dealing with your complaint we will:
- carry out a thorough investigation of what has happened
- seek to resolve or remedy the situation to your full satisfaction
- keep you fully updated on progress until your complaint is resolved
- continually aim to improve our standards of service by listening to your views
Our Complaints Procedure
Should you contact us to make a complaint we will take the following action:
On receipt of your complaint, we will pass the details to Mr Robert Evans, our Head of Client Care. Mr Evans has overall responsibility for complaints.
Mr Evans will commence an investigation by reviewing your matter file and speaking to the member of staff who acted for you. He will also record the details of your complaint in our central register.
Within three working days we will send you a written acknowledgment of your complaint.
If your complaint alleges that we have done something wrong or omitted to do something on your behalf, then we are duty bound to report the matter to our professional indemnity insurers for guidance. In that case we may have to advise you to seek independent legal advice from another firm of solicitors as there could be a conflict of interest between us.
However if your complaint is about the level of service provided by us, then our Head of Client Care, Mr Robert Evans will respond to you in as much detail as possible within 14 days. If you feel that the matter has not been resolved then we will invite you to a meeting to discuss and, hopefully, resolve your complaint. We would hope to be in a position to meet with you in this way no longer than 14 days thereafter.
If, at this stage, it is not possible to resolve the matter to your satisfaction please contact us again and we will consider alternative options.
These would normally include: making arrangements for another senior person at our firm to review the situation. This would be a person who is unconnected to your matter and who has not been involved in your complaint or inviting you to agree to independent mediation – this could involve asking another local firm of solicitors to review your complaint. We will let you know how long this process will take.
We will then write to you within 14 days confirming our final position on your complaint and explaining our reasons.
If, at this stage, it is still not possible to resolve the matter to your satisfaction you have the right to have the complaint independently looked at by the Legal Ombudsman. The Legal Ombudsman investigates complaints about service issues with lawyers.
You can contact the Legal Ombudsman by:
Telephone: 0300 555 0333
Email on enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk
Post: Legal Ombudsman, PO Box 6167, Slough, SL1 0EH
The time limits for the Legal Ombudsman accepting a complaint are: –
- one year from the date of the act or omission being complained about; or
- one year from the date when the complainant should have realised that there was cause for complaint.
The Legal Ombudsman will expect you to have given your lawyer a chance to resolve your complaint before it will get involved. Normally you will need to bring a complaint to the Legal Ombudsman within 6 months of receiving a final written response from us about your complaint.
If we have to change any of the responsibilities or the timescales set out above we will write to you explaining the changes.
