CLIENT COMPLAINTS PROCEDURE
WHAT IS A COMPLAINT?
‘an oral or written expression of dissatisfaction which alleges that the complainant has suffered (or may suffer) financial loss, distress, inconvenience or other detriment’.
OUR COMPLAINTS POLICY
Oliver & Co Solicitors are committed to providing the highest standard of legal service to all our clients. When something goes wrong, we need to know about it, so that we can try to put things right. We value feedback good or bad to help us to improve our standards and service to our clients. We will consider any complaint carefully and objectively, endeavouring to resolve the issues and reach a satisfactory conclusion.
HOW DO I MAKE A COMPLAINT?
If you are unhappy about any aspect of the service you have received or about the bill, please contact the legal advisor dealing with your matter, or their supervising director. Their names and contact details will be in the engagement letter you received when you first instructed the firm on the relevant matter. We are happy to deal with your complaint by telephone or in writing, whichever is more convenient to you.
If you would like to deal with someone else, you can contact our Client Care Director, Mrs Kay Cook, on 01244 312306 or e-mail kay.cook@oliverandco.co.uk or by post to: Oliver & Co Solicitors Limited, Douglas House, 117 Foregate Street, Chester, CH1 1HE.
HOW WILL WE DEAL WITH YOUR COMPLAINT
We will contact you by letter or email acknowledging receipt of your complaint, within 7 days of receiving your complaint.
We will then investigate your complaint. This will normally involve passing your complaint to our Client Care Director, Kay Cook, who will review your matter file and speak to the member of staff who acted for you.
Mrs Cook will then respond to your complaint formally in writing within 21 days of acknowledging your complaint. Mrs Cook will be happy to meet with you in person or discuss the matter on the telephone should you wish.
If you are still not satisfied with our response you should contact us again to explain why you remain unhappy and we will review your comments and respond accordingly. Depending on the matter we may, at this stage, arrange for another director to review the decision and respond further.
We will respond to you within 14 days of receiving your request for a review, confirming our final position on your complaint, and explaining our reasons.
You will not be charged for investigating your complaint.
If we have to change any of the timescales above, we will let you know and explain why.
WHAT HAPPENS NEXT
If you are still not satisfied, you can refer your complaint to The Legal Ombudsman. The Legal Ombudsman is an independent organisation which deals with complaints about solicitors and other legal professionals.
Full details of the process are available from the Legal Ombudsman website www.legalombudsman.org.uk or can be obtained by calling 0300 555 0333 or emailing enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk .The postal address is Legal Ombudsman, PO Box 6806, Wolverhampton, WV1 9WJ.
Any complaint to the Legal Ombudsman must generally be made within six months of receiving a final written response from us regarding your complaint and not later than one year from the date of;
- the act or omission being complained about; or
- when the complainant should have realised that there was cause for complaint.
The Legal Ombudsman provides further guidance on its service at; www.legalombudsman.org.uk .
Alternatively, if you consider that we have breached a regulatory obligation, you may refer the matter directly to the SRA at https://www.sra.org.uk/consumers/problems/report-solicitor/. The postal address is Solicitors Regulation Authority The Cube 199 Wharfside Street Brimingham B1 1RN. You may also telephone them on 0370 606 2555 or email them at report@sra.org.uk.