We are committed to providing a high quality of service to our clients, and to uphold this commitment, we maintain stringent training programs, policies, and procedures. Nonetheless, we understand that there may be instances where our clients may not be entirely satisfied with a particular aspect of the service we have rendered. In such cases, we encourage you to voice your concerns directly to the fee earner handling your case, as they will be more than willing to address any queries, provide explanations, or work towards resolving any issues you may have.
If you still remain concerned, please follow our complaints procedure as set out below:
Our Procedure – what will happen next?
- With this form I will send you a letter acknowledging your complaint and asking you to confirm and explain the details if necessary. You can expect to receive my letter within five days of receiving the complaint.
- I will record your complaint in my central register and open a file for your complaint, if necessary.
- I will acknowledge any reply you make to my letter in 1 above. You can expect to hear from me within three days of your reply.
- I will then start to investigate your complaint. This may involve one or more of the following:
- If I acted for you, I will consider your complaint again. I will then send my detailed reply or invite you to make an appointment to discuss the matter. I will do this within fourteen days.
- If someone else acted for you, I will ask them to give me their reply to your complaint within seven days.
- I will then examine their reply and the information in your complaint file and may also speak to the person who acted for you.
- I will then write to you or invite you to make an appointment to discuss the matter. I will do this within seven days of receiving their reply.
- I will then write to you within fourteen days to confirm what took place at any meeting and any solutions I have agreed with you.
- If you are still not satisfied, you can write to me again. I will then arrange to review my decision. This may happen in one of the following ways: –
- I will review the decision myself within fourteen days.
- I will arrange for someone who is not connected with the complaint to review my decision. I will do this within fourteen days.
- I will write to you confirming my final position on your complaint, explaining my reasons.
What to do if we cannot resolve your complaint?
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 our final response to your complaint and
- No more than one year from the date of the act or omission being complained about; or
- No more than one year from the date when you should reasonably have known that there was cause for complaint.
Legal Ombudsman
PO Box 6806
Wolverhampton
WV1 9WJ
www.legalombudsman.org.uk
Katherine Oakes
Partner
Ames Kent
