COMPLAINTS HANDLING POLICY

COMPLAINTS HANDLING POLICY

OUR COMPLAINTS POLICY

We are committed to providing a high-quality legal service to all our clients. When something goes wrong, we need you to tell us about it.  This will help us to improve our standards.  In the first instance it may be helpful to contact the person who is working on your case to discuss your concerns.  We will do our best to resolve any issues at this stage.  Alternatively, please follow our formal Complaints Procedure.

COMPLAINTS PROCEDURE

If you have a complaint, please contact us with the details.  Generally we will attempt to consider your complaint and respond within 4 weeks.  In some cases this may not be possible, in which case we will advise you of the likely timescale and reason for any delay.  If we have not resolved it within this time, you may complain to the Legal Ombudsman.

WHAT WILL HAPPEN NEXT

1. We will send you a letter acknowledging receipt of your complaint within 5 working days of receiving it, enclosing a copy of this procedure.
2. We will then investigate your complaint. This will normally involve passing your complaint to our Client Care Partner, Marios Pattihis, (marios.pattihis@healys.old-website.shout-loud.co.uk) who will review your matter/file and speak to the member of staff who acted for you.
3. We may then invite you to a meeting to discuss and, hopefully, resolve your complaint. If we do so, and within 7 days of the meeting, we will write to you to confirm what took place and any solutions agreed with you.  Alternatively, we shall respond to your complaint in writing within 28 days of sending you the acknowledgement letter.
4. At this stage, if you are still not satisfied, you should contact us again and we will arrange for another Partner to review the decision.
5. 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.
6. If you are still not satisfied, you can then contact the Legal Ombudsman, PO Box 6806, Wolverhampton WV1 9WJ about your complaint. Normally, you will need to bring a complaint to the Legal Ombudsman within 6 months of receiving a final written response from us about your complaint or within 6 years of the act or omission about which you are complaining occurring (or, if outside this period, within 3 years of when you should reasonably have been aware of it).  For further information, you should contact the Legal Ombudsman on 0300 555 0333 or at enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk
7. Please note that from the 1^st of April 2023 time limits are changing. From the 1^st of April the Legal Ombudsman expects complaints to be made within one year of the date of act or omission about which you are concerned or within one year of you realising there was a concern. The requirement to refer your concerns to The Legal Ombudsman within six months of our final response remains the same.