Complaints Procedure
Raising queries or concerns with us
1. We are confident that we will give a high-quality service to all our clients. However, if you have any queries or concerns about our work or services, it is important that you raise your concerns with all complaints in writing.
What will happen next?
2. The relevant department manager will acknowledge receipt of your complaint within 5 working days of us receiving the complaint, setting out the steps to try in order to resolve your complaint and the timeframe in which it will take place.
3. The relevant department manager will then investigate your complaint. This will involve reviewing your matter / file and interviewing the staff member and any other relevant people who dealt with your matter.
4. Within 14 days of acknowledging your complaint we will send you a detailed written reply to your complaint, including any suggestions for resolving the matter.
5. The relevant department manager may decide that they need to discuss your complaint further with you. If this is the case, they will arrange to meet with you or to speak on the telephone, to discuss and hopefully resolve your complaint. They will do this within 14 days of sending you the acknowledgement letter.
6. Within 10 working days of any such meeting, the department manager will write to you to confirm what took place and any solutions they may have agreed with you.
What happens if you are still not satisfied?
7. At this stage, if you are still not satisfied, you should, within 7 working days of receiving the letter setting out our response, write to our Compliance Director.
8. The Compliance Director will write to you acknowledging receipt of your complaint within 5 days of receiving it.
9. Within 14 days of sending you the acknowledgement letter, the Compliance Director will write to you confirming our final position on your complaint and explaining our reasons.
10. The Compliance Director may decide that they need to see you to discuss your complaint in person. If this is the case, they will invite you to a meeting to discuss and hopefully resolve your complaint. This will be done within 14 days of sending you the acknowledgement letter.
11. If we have to change any of the timescales above, we will let you know and explain why.
What happens if you do not agree with our final response?
12. If you are not satisfied with our handling of your complaint, you can refer it to the Legal Ombudsman, an independent complaints body established under the Legal Services Act, who can investigate complaints about the legal service you have received from us. The Legal Ombudsman expects complaints to be made to them within one year of the date of the act or omission about which you are concerned or within one year of you realising there was a concern. You must also refer your concerns to the Legal Ombudsman within six months of our final response to you.
The Legal Ombudsman’s contact details are:-
Telephone: 0300 555 0333 Minicom: 0300 555 1777
Website: www.legalombudsman.org.uk
Post: Legal Ombudsman, PO Box 6806, Wolverhampton, WV1 9WJ
Any complaint to the Legal Ombudsman must usually be made within six months of the date of our final written response to your complaint and within six years of the act or omission about which you are complaining occurring (or within three years of you becoming aware of it). Further details are available on the Legal Ombudsman’s website.