Complaints Handling Policy We are committed to high quality legal advice and client care. When something goes wrong, you need to tell us about it. This will help improve our standards.
If you have a complaint, please contact Ian Campbell on 01908 803492, via ian@campbell-law.co.uk or by post to this office. We have 8 weeks to consider your complaint for which we make no charge. If we have not resolved it within this time you may complain to the Legal Ombudsman.
We will send you a letter acknowledging receipt of your complaint within two working days of receiving it, enclosing a copy of this procedure.
We will then investigate your complaint. This may involve one or more of the following steps: If the Principal, Ian Campbell, acted for you, he will consider your file again. If someone else acted for you, Ian Campbell will review the file and speak to the relevant member of staff.
Within five weeks of receiving the complaint, Ian Campbell will write to you with a detailed written reply to your complaint, including his suggestions for resolving the matter.
At this stage, if you are still not satisfied, you should contact us again within 7 days of receiving our substantive response and Ian Campbell can review his own decision or consider whether an appropriate alternative such as review by another local solicitor or independent mediation is reasonable in order to review the decision.
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.
If you are still then not satisfied, you can contact: Legal Ombudsman, PO Box 6806, Wolverhampton, WV1 9WJ, tel. no. 0300 555 0333 or at enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk about your complaint. Any complaint to the Legal Ombudsman (LeO) must usually be made within six months of the date of our final written response on your complaint and within one year of the act or omission about which you are complaining occurring or when you should reasonably have been aware of it.
Alternative complaints bodies (such as ProMediate) exist which are competent to deal with complaints about legal services although we only agree to use the Legal Ombudsman. If we have to change any of the timescales above, we will let you know and explain why. We will not charge you for handling your complaint.
If your complaint relates to an allegation of dishonesty or discrimination, you can contact the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) instead of the LeO.
All complaints shall be kept in a Central Complaints Folder and a copy of the Client Complaint Report Form shall be placed on the client’s file.
The central complaints record will include the following:
(a) a complaint reference number;
(b) the date of the complaint;
(c) the name of the client;
(d) the name of the member of staff involved;
(e) a general description of the complaint;
(f) the date of any internal meeting and the names of those present;
(g) the date the file was examined;
(h) the date of any meeting with the client;
(i) an indication of whether the complaint is justified;
(j) the reasons for the complaint;
(k) details of any suggestions to resolve the complaint;
(l) the dates of any letters confirming details or suggestions;
(m) the date of any review and the result of the review;
(n) the date of the final letter;
(o) the date the file was closed; and
(p) any action to be taken internally as a result of the complaint.
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