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.
The Legal Ombudsman can help you if we are unable to resolve your complaint ourselves. 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 six months of receiving a final response to your complaint
and
no more than six years from the date of act/omission; or
If you would like more information about the Legal Ombudsman, please contact them:
Visit:www.legalombudsman.org.uk
Call: 0300 555 0333 between 9.00 to 17.00.
COMPLAINTS
1. We do hope that you will not find any need to complain to us. If you are unhappy with any aspect of our services, then please contact the solicitor dealing with your case in the first instance. We will do all that we can to try and resolve this with you.
2. If it is not possible to resolve your issue with the solicitor dealing with your case, then the matter will be passed to a colleague dealing with complaints. Please contact us and we will provide details of our complaint’s handler.
3. We have eight weeks to consider your complaint. If we have not resolved it within this time you may complain to the Legal Ombudsman.
4. The Legal Ombudsman is the independent complaints handling body dealing with complaints against lawyers. Their details are: Legal Ombudsman, PO Box 6806, Wolverhampton, WV1 9WJ, Telephone: 0300 555 0333, Email: enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk, Website: legalombudsman.org.uk.
5. Ordinarily, you can ask the Legal Ombudsman to look at your complaint if it meets the following steps:
1) You are referring your complaint to the Legal Ombudsman within either of the following: six years of the problem happening; or three years from when you found out about it; and
2) You are referring your complaint to the Legal Ombudsman within six months of your service provider’s final response.
6. Please also note that you have the right to challenge, or complain an invoice by making a complaint to the Legal Ombudsman and/or by applying to the Court for an assessment of the invoice under Part III of the Solicitors’ Act 1974. The Legal Ombudsman may not deal with a complaint about an invoice if you have applied to the Court for an assessment.
7. In noncontentious matters, sections 70, 71 and 72 of the Solicitors’ Act 1974 set out your rights in relation to having the invoice assessed by the Court. In contentious matters, under sections 70, 71 and 72 of the Solicitors’ Act 1974 you may be entitled to apply for an assessment of the invoice by an Officer of the High Court.
8. The time limit for bringing a complaint to the Legal Ombudsman is six months from when you receive a final written response from us about your complaint. The Legal Ombudsman will accept complaints within six years from the date of the act or omission about which you are complaining or within three years of when you should have known about the complaint.
