Complaints procedure

We are committed to providing all our clients with a professional and efficient service. If, however, you are unhappy with our service at any point we want to know about it as soon as possible, so that we can do our best as soon as possible to resolve the problem.

We encourage taking an informal approach at first. So please take the opportunity to speak to us about the concerns you have, and we will do what we can to sort out the concerns. Any expression of unhappiness shall be taken seriously and we will do what we can to respond promptly

What should you do if you are unhappy about our service?

Start by contacting Mr Jon Hallett. Our written complaints procedure is available on request.

Any complaint will be handled by Mr Jon Hallett, solicitor.

The procedure is as follows:-

We will send you a letter or e-mail within 5 working days of receiving your complaint (or as soon as practicable thereafter) acknowledging receipt of your complaint and enclosing a copy of the complaints procedure.

The letter will invite you to a meeting to discuss and hopefully resolve your complaint.

Within 5 days of the meeting we will write to/e-mail you to confirm what took place and any solutions which have been agreed with you.

If you decline the option (or it is not possible) to meet to clarify and resolve your complaint we will within 10 working days (or of you notifying us you do not wish to attend a meeting), send a detailed response to your complaint following further investigation and review of the file and records, which will include any suggestions for resolving the matter.

If at this stage you are still not satisfied you should contact us again and we will be happy for Mr Hallett to meet you again to discuss why you are still dissatisfied, and reconsider the decision.

We will write to you within 10 working days of receiving your request for a review or a review meeting with you (whichever is the later), confirming our final position on your complaint and explaining our reasons.

We will let you know if we need to alter any of the timescales set out above, with an explanation of the reasons for the alteration.

Once you have received our final response on your complaint, if you remain dissatisfied you may refer your complaint to the Legal Ombudsman. They will look at the complaint independently.

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 6 months of receiving a final response to your complaint. The Legal Ombudsman expects complaints to be referred to them within 6 years of the date of the act/omission about which you are complaining, or 3 years from when you should have known there was a cause for complaint.

The Legal Ombudsman can be contacted on :-

Tel: 0300 555 0333 between 9am and 5pm, or

Email: enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk, or

Website: www.legalombudsman.co.uk

Post: Legal Ombudsman

         PO box 6806

         Wolverhampton

         WV1 9WJ

If, however you have concerns about our behaviour rather than the service we have provided, for example in the unlikely event that you feel you have been treated unfairly because of your age or disability or another characteristic, the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) may be able to help you. They can be contacted via their website:-

www.sra.org.uk