Complaints

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 you should inform us immediately, so that we can do our best to resolve the problem.

In the first instance it may be helpful to contact the person who is working on your case to discuss your concerns and we will do our best to resolve any issues at this stage. If you would like to make a formal complaint, then we will send you a letter acknowledging your complaint and asking you to confirm the details set out. We will also let you know the name of the person who will be dealing with your complaint. You can expect to receive our letter within seven working days of us receiving your complaint.

We will record your complaint in our central register and open a separate file for your complaint.  We will then investigate your complaint. This will normally involve passing your complaint to our Client Care partner, Noreen Iqbal, who will review your matter file and speak to the member of staff who acted for you. Noreen Iqbal will then invite you to a meeting and discuss and hopefully resolve your complaint. She will do this within 21 days of sending you the acknowledgement letter. Within three days of the meeting Noreen Iqbal will write to you to confirm what took place and any solutions she has agreed with you.

If you do not want a meeting or it is not possible, Noreen Iqbal will send you a detailed reply to your complaint, including her suggestions for resolving the matter. She will do this within 28 days of sending you the acknowledgement letter. At this stage, if you are still not satisfied you can contact us again and we will arrange for another partner or someone unconnected with the matter at the firm to review the file and conclude his/her own decision. (We may ask our local Law Society or another local firm of Solicitors to review your complaint. If so, we will let you know how long this process will take).

We may ask if you will agree to independent mediation. If so, we will let you know how long this process will take. We will write to you with the result of the review within 14 days of receiving your request, confirming our final position on your complaint and explaining our reasons. 

Making a complaint will not affect how we handle your case.

The Solicitors Regulation Authority can 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.

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 them within 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 of our final response to you.

If you would like more information about the Legal Ombudsman, please feel free to contact them directly:

Visit: www.legalombudsman.org.uk

Call: 0300 555 0333 between 9am to 5pm.

Email: enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk

Legal Ombudsman PO Box 6167, Slough, SL1 0EH