COMPLAINTS PROCEDURE
We are committed to providing a very high standard of legal service to all our clients.
In the unlikely event that something goes wrong, we ask you to tell us about it. This will help us to maintain and improve our standards.
Our complaints procedure is as follows:
If at any point you become unhappy with the service we provide to you, then please inform us immediately so that we can do our best to resolve the problem for you. Please tell us the details in whichever way suits you best, but preferably in writing addressed to Richard Silver, the principal of this practice. He will be responsible for conducting all investigations into your complaint and deciding if any remedial action is required, and if so, what course of action we should take to put things right.
If you wish to make a complaint about Richard Silver, you may instead wish to address it to Judith Hawkins.
On receiving the details of your complaint we will record the matter in our central register and open a complaint file.
We will write to you acknowledging your complaint within 5 days of our receiving it.
Mr. Silver will gather information concerning your complaint and will initiate investigations. Once all available information has been collected Mr. Silver will consider all the issues and decide on the next course of action and how best to deal with your complaint.
Whenever possible, Mr. Silver’s decision will be sent to you within 14 days of completing his investigation.
Our sole intention will be to investigate the issues thoroughly, and, should they be substantiated, resolve your complaint to your complete satisfaction.
If following our investigations you are dissatisfied, you may contact us again, requesting that we review our decision. We will let you know the result of any review within 7 days of its completion and will confirm to you in writing of our final position on your complaint, explaining the reasons for the decision reached.
If we are unable to resolve your complaint, then you can have it independently looked at by the Legal Ombudsman. The Legal Ombudsman investigates complaints about service issues with lawyers.
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 your realising there was a concern. You must also refer your concerns to the Legal Ombudsman within six months of our final response to you.
The Legal Ombudsman can be contacted by post, e-mail or telephone, as follows:
Post: The Legal Ombudsman, PO Box 6806, Wolverhampton WV1 9WJ.
E-mail: enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk
Telephone: 0300 555 0333
Website: www.legalombudsman.org.uk
Alternative complaints bodies such as Ombudsman Services, ProMediate and Small Claims Mediation exist, which are competent to deal with complaints about legal services should both you and our firm wish to use such a scheme.
We agree to use any of the above.
You will not be charged for any time we spend dealing with your complaint
If any of the above time-scales need to be varied, we will let you know with an explanation as why changes were necessary.
What to do if you are unhappy with our behaviour
The Solicitors Regulation Authority can help 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.
Visit their website to see how you can raise your concerns with the Solicitors Regulation Authority.
(Updated 3rd April 2023).