Client Complaint Information
Policy
We take very seriously all expressions of dissatisfaction from our clients. If you have received this leaflet, it is likely that you have already expressed your concerns verbally or in writing to your lawyer, the Partner responsible for their work, or the Client Care Manager responsible for dealing with complaints, Mr Mark Coupe. This leaflet 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 response, then the matter should be taken up with the Partner responsible for their work or direct to the Client Care Manager. The name of that Partner will have been 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 within 3 working 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 20 working 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. If we have not finalised our response within 40 working days, you have the right to take your complaint to the Legal Ombudsman
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 (LeO, Office for Legal Complaints), contact details for which are:
- Address: Legal Ombudsman, PO Box 6806, Wolverhampton, WV1 9WJ
- Web: www.legalombudsman.org.uk
- Telephone: 0300 555 0333
The Legal Ombudsman will normally expect you to have taken the matter through our complaints procedure before he will investigate your complaint. In normal circumstances the LeO expects you to refer the matter to his office within 6 (six) months of receiving the final letter from us regarding your complaint.
If your complaint relates to an alleged breach by this firm of our code of conduct (sometimes called the SRA Principles) then you should report the matter directly to the Solicitors Regulation Authority (the SRA). The SRA can be contacted on telephone number 0370 606 2555 or at Solicitors Regulation Authority, The Cube, 199 Wharfside Street, Birmingham, B1 1RN or by visiting their website www.sra.org.uk.
Management
All complaints (written or verbal) are recorded and logged centrally to enable us to detect any 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.