We hope that you never have reason to complain as we work hard to ensure that we provide a high quality of service. If you feel we have failed to provide an acceptable standard of service, please inform us in order for us to monitor and improve our quality of service.
What to do if you have a complaint
If you have any queries or concerns about our work, including our bill, please raise them as soon as possible with the person handling your case. If that does not resolve the problem, or you would prefer to deal with another person in the firm, then please contact their supervisor as detailed in our Client Care Letter. If you no longer have these details, please call us for them. You can raise your complaint by either emailing or writing in with the details of your complaint. If your complaint arises during the course of your case it will be investigated however it will not prejudice or disrupt your case.
What will happen next?
Firstly, we will acknowledge receipt of your complaint within two working days by letter or email, enclosing a copy of this procedure.
Secondly, we will investigate your complaint.
This will normally involve either the supervisor or our Compliance Office for Legal Practice (COLP), Lorraine Wilde, reviewing your matter/file and speaking to the member of staff who acted for you. They will then respond to you in the same manner as your complaint was received with a detailed written reply, including suggestions for resolving the matter. This will be sent to you within 14 days of sending you the acknowledgement.
If the matter is complex it may take longer for us to deal with. In such cases we will contact you within 14 days to give you an approximate time scale.
If this does not resolve the matter, then within 7 working days of the date of our detailed written reply, you can ask for, or Lorraine Wilde may invite you to, a meeting to discuss and hopefully resolve your complaint.
Finally, within five working days of the meeting, Lorraine Wilde will write to you to confirm what took place and any solutions she has agreed with you. At this stage, if you are still not satisfied, you can contact The Legal Ombudsman about your complaint.
Any complaint to the Legal Ombudsman must usually be made in relation to actions or omissions which took place within the last six years or three years from when you should have known about the complaint. The complaint must then be made to the Legal Ombudsman within six months of our written response to any complaint. The Legal Ombudsman will usually only consider a complaint if our internal complaints procedure has been exhausted.
For further information, you should contact the Legal Ombudsman on 0300 555 0333 or enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk or at PO Box 6806, Wolverhampton, WV1 9WJ.
Finally, the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) deals with cases where firms or those it regulates have breached the SRA Principles. Most of the time, complaints about solicitors are about poor service, and therefore should be sent to the Legal Ombudsman. If the Legal Ombudsman thinks your case involves a breach of SRA Principles, they will refer your case to the SRA. Likewise, if you report a solicitor to the SRA for poor service, the SRA will refer you to the Legal Ombudsman. The SRA does not have the power to award compensation for poor service, or to reduce or refund your legal fees.
You should report the matter directly to the SRA if you think a firm or individual solicitor has breached an SRA Principle. Please see the information at the following link for more information SRA | Reporting an individual or firm | Solicitors Regulation Authority.