Complaints Policy

We are committed to providing a high-quality, responsive legal service to all our clients.

If you are dissatisfied in any way about any aspect of the service you have received or about your bill, we need to be informed so that we can respond as appropriate and ensure we continually strive to improve our Service Standards.

Complaints Procedure

A Terms of Business and Client Care letter is sent to each client. The documentation states who is responsible for dealing with your matter and who to contact if the client is concerned about any aspect of the case.

If you have a concern/complaint you can contact the person identified in the documentation with the details. Contact may be made by telephone, in writing or in person.

The responsible person will then endeavour to resolve any difficulty efficiently, informally and to the satisfaction of the client. The Practice will identify the cause of any problems of which the client has complained offering any appropriate redress and correcting any unsatisfactory procedures.

If the client remains concerned, they should make a complaint in writing to Mr David Mainwaring or Mrs Jennifer Larton if the complaint involves Mr David Mainwaring.

What will happen next?

1. On receipt of a formal complaint an acknowledgement letter will be sent in 5 working days with confirmation of who will be investigating the matters raised.

2. The complaint will be investigated, and this will involve a file review of your matter and a discussion with the member of staff who acted for you.

3. The person who is dealing with the investigation may invite you to a meeting as appropriate to discuss and seek resolution of your complaint. This will normally be within 14 days of sending the acknowledgement. Alternatively, if a meeting is considered to be inappropriate then you will receive a written response within the same timescale.

4. In the event of a meeting we will write to you setting out the timescale by which we will confirm the final outcome and any agreed actions.

5. Normally all complaints should be resolved within 21 days of sending the acknowledgement.

6. If you are still not satisfied with the decision, then within 7 days of receiving the decision, you should contact Mrs Jennifer Larton or Mr David Mainwaring in writing, requesting a review.

7. We will respond within 14 days of receiving the request for review to confirm the final position regarding your complaint and explaining the reasons for this decision.

8. If we are unable to settle your complaint using our internal complaints process you have a right to complain to the Legal Ombudsman, an independent complaints body established under the Legal Services Act 2007, that deals with legal services complaints. 

We have 8 weeks within which to resolve a complaint before you may go to the Legal Ombudsman.

You have six months from the date of our final letter to complain to the Legal Ombudsman.

And;

No more than 12 months from the date of act or omission; or

No more than 12 months from when you should reasonably have known there was cause to raise a complaint.

The Legal Ombudsman can, at their discretion, allow complaints outside the time limits if they believe it is fair and reasonable to do so.

The Legal Ombudsman has provided further guidance on its service at www.legalombudsman.org.uk.

Address:           PO Box 6167, Slough, SL1 0EH

Telephone:        0300 555 0333

Email:               enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk

Alternative complaints bodies such as Mediation Services exist which are competent to deal with complaints about legal services should both you and our firm wish to use such a scheme.

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

The Solicitor Regulation Authority

The Solicitors Regulation Authority can also help you 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. You can raise your concerns with the Solicitors Regulation Authority via their website at https://www.sra.org.uk/consumers/instructing/your-right-to-complain/.