Complaints Handling Procedure

Our Complaints Policy

We are committed to providing a high quality independent legal service to all our clients.  When something goes wrong we need you to tell us about it.  This will help us to maintain and improve our standards.

Our Complaints Procedure

If you have a complaint, please contact the firm's Practice Manager, Eileen Longcake, with the details. 

What will happen next?

• We will send you a letter acknowledging receipt of your complaint within 7 days of receiving it. At this stage we may ask you to confirm or explain in further detail the areas of concern.
• We will then investigate your complaint. This will normally involve passing your complaint to the Firm’s Complaints Partner, John Stevenson, who will review your complaint and investigate the matter. If your complaint relates to a matter involving John Stevenson or Eileen Longcake, the complaint will be handled by Michael Johnson who is a Partner.
• If appropriate, we will invite you to a meeting to discuss and hopefully resolve your complaint.  We will write to you thereafter to confirm what took place, including any solutions offered or agreed.
• If you do not want a meeting or it is not necessary, we will send you a written reply to your complaint, including any suggestions for resolving the matter, or an explanation if we do not accept your complaint.
• At this stage, if you are still not satisfied, you should contact us again and we will arrange for another partner at the firm to review your complaint and the initial decision.
• We will write to you after receiving your request for a review, confirming our final position on your complaint and explaining our reasons.

• If possible, our final response to your complaint will be within eight weeks of receiving your initial written complaint. If we have not resolved it within this time you may complain to the Legal Ombudsman.

Complaints to the Legal Ombudsman

• You are not allowed to complain to the Ombudsman until after the firm has sent to you its final decision in writing or more than 8 weeks have passed since your initial written complaint.
• In addition, to be eligible to complain to LeO you must be an individual; or an enterprise which, at the time at which you refer the complaint to the respondent, is a micro-enterprise within the meaning of Article 1 and Article 2(1) and (3) of the Annex to Commission Recommendation 2003/361/EC, as that Recommendation had effect at the date it was adopted;
• a charity with an annual income net of tax of less than £1 million at the time at which the complainant refers the complaint to the respondent;
• a club, association or organisation, the affairs of which are managed by its members or a committee or committees of its members, with an annual income net of tax of less than £1 million at the time at which the complainant refers the complaint to the respondent;
• a trustee of a trust with an asset value of less than £1 million at the time at which the complainant refers the complaint to the respondent;
• a personal representative of an estate of a person; or
• a beneficiary of an estate of a person.

For (e) and (f) above there is a condition that the services to which the complaint relates were provided to a person who has subsequently died; and who had not at the time of his or her death already referred the complaint to the Legal Ombudsman.

Normally, you will need to bring a complaint to the Legal Ombudsman within six months of receiving a final written response from us about your complaint and within one year of the act or omission about which you are complaining occurring or within one year of when you should reasonably have been aware of it.

The contact details for the Legal Ombudsman are shown below:

Legal Ombudsman
PO Box 6167
Slough
SL1 0EH

Telephone:                  0300 555 0333 (from 8.30am to 5.30pm)

By minicom on:           0300 555 1777

From overseas:           +44 121 245 3050

e-mail:             enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk

website:           www.legalombudsman.org.uk 

What to do if you are unhappy with our behaviour

The Solicitors Regulation Authority can help if you are concerned about something other than our service to you as a client. 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.

Visit their website to see how you can raise your concerns with the Solicitors Regulation Authority.