Complaint Policy

We are committed to providing a friendly, efficient and 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 service and, of course, we will do our best to deal with your complaint. Making a complaint will not affect how we handle your case.

Registering a complaint

1. If you have a complaint in the first instance, please raise this matter with the legal advisor acting for you. If they cannot resolve the matter, it will be referred to our Practice Manager, or the firm’s Principal, Helen Crockett.
2. We will then send you a letter, or email, acknowledging receipt of your complaint within 3 working days of receiving it, enclosing a copy of our complaints procedure

Investigating your complaint

1. We will then investigate your complaint. Your file will be reviewed, and your legal advisor will be spoken with
2. We may contact you by telephone to discuss the matter.
3. We will send you a detailed written reply to your complaint, including our suggestions for resolving the matter, within 15 working days of sending you the acknowledgement letter.
4. We have 8 weeks to deal with a complaint made by you. If we must change any of the timescales above, we will let you know and explain why.
5. You will not be charged for making a complaint.

What to do if we cannot resolve your complaint

Legal Ombudsman

1. The Legal Ombudsman can help you if we are unable to resolve your complaint ourselves. They will look at your case independently and it will not affect how we handle your case. Legal Ombudsman contact details are: www.legalombudsman.org.uk / 0300 555 0333 between 10am to 4pm / enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk / Legal Ombudsman PO BOX 6167, Slough, SL1 0EH

1. 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 our final response to your complaint, and
• No more than one year of the date of the act or omission being complained about, or
• No more than one year from the date when you should reasonably have known that there was cause for complaint.

1. You should send copy documentation to the Legal Ombudsman in support of your complaint.

 

What to do if you are unhappy about our behaviour

11. 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.

1. Visit their website to see how you can raise your concerns with the Solicitors Regulation Authority, telephone number 0370 606 2555, website www.sra.org.uk

We very much hope that we can address your concerns and achieve a mutually satisfactory outcome.