Complaints Procedure

We are committed to high quality legal service. If you are unhappy about any aspect concerning the handling of your matter, please let us know and we will try to resolve your concerns.

If we are unable to resolve your complaint, then you can have the complaint independently looked at by the Legal Ombudsman, which investigates complaints about service issues with lawyers. They can be contacted on 0300 555 0333 or via their website www.legalombudsman.org.uk

The Legal Ombudsman expects complaints to be made to them within one year of the date of the act or omission about which you are concerned or within one year of you realising there was a concern. You must also refer your concerns to the Legal Ombudsman within six months of our final response to you.

There are alternative complaint bodies which are competent to deal with complaints about legal services, but we only agree to the matter being referred to the Legal Ombudsman.

You should also be aware that not all clients are entitled to have their complaint considered by the Legal Ombudsman as the service is only open to individuals, small businesses, charities, clubs and trusts. Please check the Legal Ombudsman’s website for more information

 


 

Full Complaints Handling Policy

If you have a complaint, please contact us with the details. You should first contact your Primary Contact in accordance with section 4 of our Terms of Business. If you fail to reach a satisfactory conclusion, then you should then contact that person’s Team Leader. If you wish to pursue your complaint further, please contact Elizabeth Dolding, our Client Care Manager. You can write to her at Warners Solicitors, 16 South Park, Sevenoaks, Kent TN13 1AN.

What Will Happen Next?

  1. We will send you a letter acknowledging receipt of your complaint within 3 days of receiving it.
  2. We will then investigate your complaint. This will normally involve passing your complaint to the Team Leader, who will review your matter file and speak to the member of staff who acted for you.
  3. The Team Leader may then invite you to a meeting to discuss and hopefully resolve your complaint. He/she will do this within 14 days of sending you the acknowledgement letter.
  4. Within 3 days of the meeting, the Team Leader will write to you to confirm what took place and any solutions he/she has agreed with you.
  5. If you do not want a meeting, or it is not possible, the Team Leader will send you a detailed written reply to your complaint, including his/her suggestions for resolving the matter within 21 days of sending you the acknowledgement letter.
  6. At this stage, if you are still not satisfied, you should contact us again and we will arrange for Elizabeth Dolding or her deputy to review the decision.
  7. We will write to you within 14 days of receiving your request for a review confirming our final position on your complaint and explaining our reasons.
  8. If we are not able to resolve your complaint, you do have a right to complain to the Legal Ombudsman, an independent complaints body who were established under the Legal Services Act 2007 to deal with legal services complaints.

You have 6 months from the date of our final response to your complaint in which to complain to the Legal Ombudsman.

Contact details

Visit: www.legalombudsman.org.uk
Call: 0300 555 0333 between 9.00 to 17.00.
Email[email protected]
Address: Legal Ombudsman, PO Box 6167, Slough, SL1 0EH

The time limits for the Legal Ombudsman accepting a complaint are:-

  • three years from the date of act/omission or
  • three years from when the complainant should have been aware of the act/omission.

We also need to make you aware that alternative complaints bodies do exist which are competent to deal with complaints about legal services.

We are obliged to provide you with details of an alternative scheme upon request but it should be noted that but we would only agree to the matter being referred to the Legal Ombudsman.

It should be noted that the Legal Ombudsman cannot deal with a complaint about a bill if you have applied to the Court for assessment of that bill.

If we have to change any of the timescales above we will let you know and explain why.