COMPLAINTS PROCEDURE

Complaints Procedure

We want to give you the best possible service. However, if at any point you become unhappy or concerned about the service we have provided then please tell us immediately, so that we can do our best to resolve the problem.

Our complaints procedure

If you have a complaint, please contact Charles French, our Client Care Partner, with the details. Making a complaint will not affect how we handle your case.

What will happen next?

1. We will send you a letter acknowledging your complaint and where necessary asking you to confirm or explain the details. You can expect to receive our letter within 3 working days of receiving your complaint.

2. We will record your complaint in our central register and open a file for your complaint. We will do this within 2 working days of receiving your complaint.

3. Charles French, who is a Director of the Firm, will investigate your complaint, including speaking to the person in the Firm who acted for you and reviewing your file.  He will do this within 10 working days. If Charles French acted for you, then the investigation will be carried out by Allison Bunney who is one of the Directors.

4. If you would like to have a meeting to discuss and hopefully resolve your complaint, we will arrange this within 5 working days of your request. Within 2 working days of the meeting we will write to you to confirm what took place and any solutions we have agreed with you.

5. If you do not want a meeting or if it is not possible, we will send you a detailed reply to your complaint; this will include our suggestions for resolving the matter.

6. At this stage, if you remain dissatisfied, you can let us know. We will then arrange to review the decision. This may happen in one of the following ways:

  • Charles French (or Allison Bunney) will revisit and review their own decision within 5 working days
  • Another Director will review Charles French’s (or Allison Bunney’s) decision within 5 working days
  • We will ask our local Law Society or another local firm of solicitors to review your complaint. We will let you know how long this process will take
  • We will invite you to agree to independent mediation. We will let you know how long this process will take

7. We will let you know the result of the review within 5 working days of the end of the review. At this time Charles French will write to you confirming our final position on your complaint and explaining our reasons.

Further steps

If at the conclusion of our complaints process we are unable to resolve matters to your satisfaction, you may refer the matter to the Legal Ombudsman. They will look at your complaint independently and it will not affect how we handle your case.

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 6 months of receiving a final response to your complaint, and
  • Within one year from the date of the act or omission being complained about; or
  • Within one year from the date when the complainant should have realised that there was cause for complaint.

If you would like more information about the Legal Ombudsman, please contact them.

What to do if you are unhappy with our behaviour

Our regulator, 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.

Visit their website to see how you can raise your concerns with the Solicitors Regulation Authority.

Thank you for bringing your concerns to our attention.  We will do our best to address any dissatisfaction that you have experienced in using the services of this practice. Our primary objective is to put things right.