Complaints Handling Policy and Procedure
Our complaints policy
We are committed to providing a high-quality service to our clients. This includes a commitment to putting things right when they go wrong. This policy explains how we will deal with any complaint that is referred to us. Your complaint might concern the way in which you have been dealt with, the quality of advice you have received or any invoice that you have received.
Our complaints procedure
In the first instance it may be helpful to contact the person who is working on your case to discuss your concerns, and we will do our best to resolve any issues at this stage. If you are concerned about our behaviour, for example you feel have been treated unfairly because of discrimination, the Solicitors Regulation Authority can assist you. You can contact them through this link
If you wish to make a formal complaint to us please contact Sarah Jordan. You can contact her by post at 11 Blaney Way, Corfe Mullen, Wimborne BH21 3UG, or by e-mail at sarah@jwlaw.co.uk. It is preferable that you do put your concerns into writing, but if you would prefer not to, or if you would find it difficult to do so, she can be contacted by phone at 01202 805211.
To explain to you how long this process might take we have included our target times for each stage of the process. Where, for any reason, it is not possible to observe any of these limits we will let you know and explain why.
What will happen next?
- 1. On receipt of your complaint Sarah will send you a letter acknowledging your complaint and might invite you to a meeting to discuss your concerns. We will open a file for your complaint in our system and Sarah will examine the file that we have on the work that we have been doing for you. We would look to acknowledge your complaint within three days of receiving it and will complete our initial examination within a further seven days.
- 2. We might then invite you to a meeting or we will write to you to ask for further information. Alternatively we might write to you setting out our views on the situation and suggesting any redress that we would feel to be appropriate. We will aim to write to you with our views and any suggestions within fourteen days of completing our investigations.
- 3. Where we feel that we have failed in our standards we could offer an apology, a reduction of any bill or a repayment in relation to any payment received.
- 4. If, by this stage, you are still not satisfied, please let us know. It would be helpful to us if you could do so within the next 21 days but there is no obligation on you to do so. We will then arrange to review our decision. We will usually do this by asking another firm to review the file that we have on your complaint and see if they agree with our response. We would generally aim to do this within 21 days of hearing from you that you wish to appeal.
- 5. We will let you know the result of the review within seven days of the end of the review and will do so by writing to you to confirm our final position on your complaint and explaining our reasons.
What to do if we cannot resolve your complaint
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.
Contact details
Visit: www.legalombudsman.org.uk
Call: 0300 555 0333 between 9am to 5pm.
Email: enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk
Legal Ombudsman PO Box 6806, Wolverhampton, WV1 9WJ
Remember Sarah will meet you out of office hours anywhere in the Wimborne, Poole, Bournemouth or East Dorset Areas.
Jordan Williams Law are specialists in their field. They practice family law in the Wimborne, Poole, Bournemouth and surounding areas. Contact them now.