COMPLAINTS POLICY – CLEAR RESOLUTION PROCESS, PALMERS GREEN

1. We will send you a letter acknowledging receipt of your complaint within 5 days of our receiving the complaint, enclosing a copy of this procedure.

 

2. We will then investigate your complaint. This will normally involve passing your complaint to our client care director, Mrs Mandy Bird, who will review your matter file and speak to the member of staff who acted for you.

 

3. Mrs Mandy Bird will then invite you to a meeting to discuss and, it is hoped, resolve your complaint. She will do this within 14 days of sending you the acknowledgement letter.

 

4. Within five days of the meeting, Mrs Bird will write to you to confirm what took place and any solutions she has agreed with you.

 

5. If you do not want a meeting or it is not possible, Mrs Bird will send you a detailed written reply to your complaint, including her suggestions for resolving the matter, within 21 days of sending you the acknowledgement letter.

 

6. At this stage, if you are still not satisfied, you should contact us again to explain why you remain unhappy with our response, and we will review your comments. Depending on the matter, we may at this stage arrange for another director to review the decision.

 

7. We will write to you within 14 days of receiving your request for a review, confirming our final position on your complaint and explaining our reasons.

 

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

 

9. If you are still not satisfied, you can ask the Legal Ombudsman to consider your complaint. We hope that this does not become necessary and that we can resolve matters between ourselves.

 

The Legal Ombudsman's contact details are: -

 

 Address: PO Box 6167, Slough SL1 0EH

 

 Telephone: 0300 555 0333

 

 Email: enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk 

 

 Website: www.legalombudsman.org.uk 

 

Normally, you will need to bring a complaint to the Legal Ombudsman within six months of receiving a final written response from us about your complaint and within the following timescales: -

 

• No later than one year from the date of the act or omission about which you are complaining, occurring; or

• No later than one year from the date you should reasonably have known there were grounds for complaint.

 

10. Alternative Dispute Resolution bodies exist which are competent to deal with complaints about legal services, should both you and our practice wish to use such a scheme. We have chosen, however, not to adopt an ADR process. If, therefore, you wish to complain further, you should contact the Legal Ombudsman as above.

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11. The Solicitors Regulation Authority can also 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.

 

Visit their website to see how you can raise your concerns with them at: www.sra.org.uk/consumers/problems/report-solicitor/