Our Complaints Policy

We are committed to providing a high quality, professional, efficient and courteous service to all our clients. We hope that you never have cause to complain but, if you do, we would like the earliest opportunity to put matters right. When something goes wrong, we need you to tell us about it. We regard it as an opportunity to resolve the issue for you and to improve the quality of our service. It is one of the reasons this Practice is accredited by the Law Society under LEXCEL for the quality of its Client care.

Our complaints procedure

If you have a complaint, please contact us with the details in writing. To allow us to understand your complaint please provide the following details:

(a) Your full name, address and contact details.

(b) Our file reference and matter details

(c) How you feel we have not met your expectations

(d) The evidence to support your complaint

(e) How you would like to see the complaint resolved.

What will happen next?

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

2. We will then investigate your complaint. This will normally involve passing your complaint to David Billingham, Head of Practice, who will review your matter file and speak to the member of staff who acted for you.

3. We may need to ask you for further information or we may invite you to a meeting to discuss and hopefully resolve your complaint. He will do this within 28 working days of sending you the acknowledgement letter.

4. Within seven days of the meeting, David Billingham will write to you to confirm what took place and any solutions he has agreed with you.

5. If you do not want a meeting or it is not possible, David Billingham will send you a detailed written reply to your complaint, including his suggestions for resolving the matter, within 28 days of sending you the acknowledgement letter.

6. At this stage, if you are still not satisfied, you should contact us again and we will arrange for someone unconnected with the matter at the firm or seek a review by another local Solicitor or mediation 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. The Legal Ombudsman allows us 8 weeks to try to reach a resolution of your complaint.

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

9. If we are unable to resolve your complaint then you can have the complaint independently looked at by the Legal Ombudsman. The Legal Ombudsman investigates complaints about service issues with lawyers.
The Legal Ombudsman expects complaints to be made to then one year of the date of the act or omission about which you are concerned or within one year of you realising there was a concern. You must also refer your concerns to the Legal Ombudsman within six months our our final response to you.

The Legal Ombudsman's contact details are:-
Telephone: 0300 555 0333 Minicom: 0333 555 1777
Website: www.legalombudsman.org.uk
Post: Legal Ombudsman, PO Box 6806, Wolverhampton. WV1 9WJ