Complaints

Our service to you

We are committed to providing a high quality 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.

First of all any complaint regarding our services must be brought within one year of the relevant act or omission about which you are complaining since otherwise your complaint will be out of time and we will not be bound to investigate it.

Subject to the above if you have a complaint, please contact Kristy Tidman, our Client Care Director at The Hayloft, Emsworth, Hampshire, PO10 7DL, telephone 01243 373165.  Kristy Tidman will review your complaint.  However, should your complaint concern Kristy Tidman, then she will pass your complaint onto Lisa Carter. If we have to change any of the responsibility or the timescales set out below we will let you know and explain why.

Making a complaint will not affect how we handle your case.

What happens next?

1.  Within seven days we will send you a letter acknowledging your complaint.  If appropriate we will ask you for further details at this stage or we will suggest a meeting.  We will also let you know the name of the person who will be dealing with your complaint.

2.   We always aim to provide you with a detailed response to your complaint within twenty-eight days after first receiving your complaint.  Either Kristy Tidman or the director dealing with the complaint will write to you setting out our views on the situation and any redress that we would feel to be appropriate.

3.   At this stage, if you are still not satisfied, please let us know within fourteen days.  We will then arrange to review our decision.  We will seek to do this within fourteen days thereafter.  This may be addressed in one of the following ways:-

  • The director concerned will review his or her own decision.
  • Another member of this company, who has not been involved in the complaint, will review it.
  • We may invite you to agree to independent mediation.  We will let you know how long this process will take.

4.  At the end of the review period, we will write to you confirming our final position on your complaint and explaining our reasons.

5. The Solicitors Regulation Authority can help you if you are concerned about our behaviour. This could be for things like dishonesty, taking or losing your money or treating you unfairly because of your age, a disability or other characteristic.

You can raise your concerns with the Solicitors Regulation Authority.

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 a final response to your complaint

and

  • No more than six years from the date of act/omission; or
  • No more than three years from when you should reasonably have known there was cause for complaint.

If you would like more information about the Legal Ombudsman, please contact them.

Visit: www.legalombudsman.org.uk

Call: 0300 555 0333 between 9am to 5pm.

Email: enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk

Legal Ombudsman

Legal Ombudsman, address of PO Box 6806, Wolverhampton, WV1 9WJ

From 22 January the address for the Legal Ombudsman, PO Box 6167, Slough, SL1 0EH