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. Making a complaint will not affect how we handle your case and you will not be charged for time spent handling your complaint.
What to do if we cannot resolve your complaint:
The Legal Ombudsman may be able to help you if we are unable to resolve your complaint ourselves. They will look at complaints independently and accessing the Ombudsman will not affect how we handle your case. Most ‘consumer’ clients (as oppose to large businesses) will be able to make use of the Ombudsman scheme however there are restrictions for some larger clients. 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
- No more than three years from when you should reasonably have known there was cause for complaint.
If you would like more information about the Legal Ombudsman, please contact them:
Visit: www.legalombudsman.org.uk
Call: 0300 555 0333 between 9am to 5pm.
Email: enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk
Legal Ombudsman PO Box 6806, Wolverhampton, WV1 9WJ
Please note that the Ombudsman are there to deal with concerns about the level of service received. Where there are more serious concerns that a solicitor or solicitor’s firm have been involved in professional misconduct then reports can also be made to the Solicitors Regulation Authority, the regulator of solicitors and solicitor firms. This could be for quite unusual and serious acts of misconduct such as dishonesty, taking or losing your money or treating you unfairly because of your age, a disability or other characteristic. Obviously we do not anticipate any such problems arising and would ask that you notify the matter supervisor straight away if you have any such concerns. You can find out more about the Solicitors Regulation Authority including their contact details and professional conduct rules on their website: www.sra.org.uk.