Complaints

We want to give you the best possible service. 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.

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, then you can read our full complaints procedure, detailed below. Making a complaint will not affect how we handle your case.

The Solicitors Regulation Authority can help you 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.

You can raise your concerns directly with the Solicitors Regulation Authority.

What do to 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 months of receiving a final response to your complaint

and

• Within 1 year from the date of act/omission; or
• If outside of this period within 1 year 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 9am to 5pm.

Email: enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk

Legal Ombudsman
PO Box 6167
Slough
SL1 0EH

If we are not able to settle your complaint you may be able to send your complaint to a certified alternative dispute resolution (ADR) provider in the UK (such as ProMediate) if both you and we agree to use this type of scheme.

However, we believe the Legal Ombudsman’s scheme is the
most suitable and so would not agree to use another complaints body.

Our Complaints Policy

We are committed to providing a high quality legal service to all our clients. When something goes wrong, you need to tell us about it. This will help us to improve our standards.

If you have a complaint, please contact us with the details.

What will happen next?

1. We will send you a letter acknowledging receipt of your complaint within two working days of receiving it, enclosing a copy of this procedure.
2. We will then investigate your complaint. This will normally involve passing your complaint to the head of the relevant office who will review your matter file and speak to the member of staff who acted for you.
3. The head of office will then invite you to a meeting to discuss and hopefully resolve your complaint. He will do this within 14 working days of sending you the acknowledgement letter.
4. Within three days of the meeting, the head of office will write to you to confirm what took place and any solutions he has agreed with you.
5. If you do not want a meeting or it is not possible, the head of office will send you a detailed written reply to your complaint including his suggestions for resolving the matter, within 21 working days of sending you the acknowledgement letter.
6. At this stage, if you are still not satisfied, you should contact us again and we will arrange for another partner to review his own decision.
7. We will write to you within 14 working days of receiving your request for a review confirming our final position on your complaint and explaining our reasons.
8. We have an 8 week period to try to resolve the complaint.  If you are still not satisfied after this time, you can then contact the Legal Ombudsman about your complaint. Any complaint to the Legal Ombudsman must usually be made within 6 months of the date of our final decision on your complaint or within 1 year of the act or omission about which you are complaining occurring, or if outside of this period within 1 year of when you should reasonably have been aware of it. For further information, you should contact the Legal Ombudsman on Tel: 0300 555 0333, email: enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk or at legalombudsman.org.uk.

If we have to change any of the timescales above, we will let you know and explain why.