Client Complaint Information
Policy
We take very seriously all expressions of dissatisfaction from our clients. If you have already expressed your concerns verbally or in writing to your lawyer, or the person responsible for dealing with complaints, Nick Bingham, the following explains our procedures for handling complaints to ensure that each complaint is dealt with swiftly in an attempt to reach an amicable and satisfactory solution.
Reporting & Investigation Responsibilities
Informal verbal complaints should be addressed to your lawyer in the first instance. If you are not satisfied with their proposals, then the matter should be taken up with Nick Bingham the Complaints handler for the firm, given in your initial client care letter, but if you are unable to locate this, you can ask your lawyer or a member of our support staff. If the matter cannot be resolved informally with your lawyer, it would assist investigations if you were to fully detail your concerns in writing so there is less room for misunderstanding your concerns and requirements.
Response Times
Written complaints will be acknowledged in within 7 days of receipt whereby the name of the person responsible for handling the complaint will be confirmed. A full reply will be sent as soon as the matter has been investigated and our proposals for dealing with your concerns have been agreed upon. In any case, we will always endeavour to provide a full response within 21 days. If that is not possible, an interim response will be given explaining why it is not possible to meet this deadline, when we expect our investigations to be completed and a response finalised.
Unresolved Issues
If in the unusual event that we are unable to resolve the matter to your satisfaction you are able to take the matter up with the Legal Ombudsman. The LeO is open from 8am until 6pm each weekday and the contact details are as follows
- Address: Legal Ombudsman, PO Box 6167, Slough SL1 0EH
- Web: www.legalombudsman.org.uk
- Telephone: 0300 555 033
If you wish to involve the LeO, you should do so no later than 6 months after the date of our final response.
You can use the Legal Ombudsman if:
a) the complaint has not been resolved to your satisfaction within eight weeks of being made to us; or
b) an ombudsman considers that there are exceptional reasons to consider the complaint sooner, or without it having been made first to the authorised person; or
c) where an ombudsman considers that in-house resolution is not possible due to an irretrievable breakdown in the relationship between us
Time limit for bringing a complaint to the LeO from act/omission
- the act or omission, or when the complainant should reasonably have known there was cause for complaint, must have been after 5 October 2010; and
- the complainant must refer the complaint to the Legal Ombudsman no later than six years from the act/omission, or, three years from when the complainant should reasonably have known there was cause for complaint.
Management
All complaints (written or verbal) are recorded and logged centrally to enable us to detect recurring problems and trends. As necessary, we will implement corrective action in response to individual complaints and improvement measures to prevent adverse trends and correct recurring problems. In this manner, we aim to constantly improve the service we provide.
If you believe any action on our part has been in breach of the rules of our Regulator, the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) you can make contact with the SRA.
The contact details for the SRA can be found at www.sra.org.uk