Complaints Policy and Procedure.
Ferndown Solicitors is committed to providing a high-quality legal 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. If at any point you become unhappy with the service we provide to you or you have concerns about your bill, then you should inform us immediately so that we can do our best to resolve the problem for you.
If you have a complaint, please contact us with the details. In the first instance you should raise any complaint directly with the Fee Earner who has care and conduct of your matter to provide them with an opportunity to respond to your concerns and hopefully resolve them. If concerns remain after this initial contact then all complaints should be directed to Kate Pelzer, the Principal Solicitor and Complaints Manager.
How we respond to your complaint.
We will send you a letter acknowledging receipt of your complaint within three days of receiving it, enclosing a copy of this procedure.
We will then investigate your complaint. The Principal, Kate Pelzer will review your matter file and speak to the member of staff who acted for you.
You will then be invited to a meeting to discuss and hopefully resolve your complaint. The meeting will be scheduled within 14 days of sending you the acknowledgement letter.
Within three days of the meeting the Complaints Manager will write to you to confirm what took place and any solutions she has agreed with you.
If you do not want a meeting or it is not possible you will receive a detailed written reply to your complaint, including any suggestions for resolving the matter, within 21 days of sending you the acknowledgement letter.
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.
What to do if we have been unable to resolve your complaint?
If we are unable to resolve your complaint within eight weeks after you have brought it to our attention, then you can have the complaint independently looked at by the Legal Ombudsman. The Legal Ombudsman investigates complaints about poor service from lawyers. The Legal Ombudsman will expect both the firm and client to have taken steps to resolve matters before any referral to them.
The Legal Ombudsman can investigate complaints up to six years from the date of the problem happening or within three years of when you found out about the problem. If you wish to refer your complaint to the Legal Ombudsman this must be done within six months of our final response to your complaint.
The contact details for the Legal Ombudsman are as follows:
Website: legalombudsman.org.uk
Email: enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk
Telephone 0300 555 0333 between 8.30am to 5.30pm
Calls from both mobiles and landlines to 03 numbers cost no more than calls to national geographic numbers (starting 01 or 02). Calls are recorded and may be used for training and monitoring purposes.
For minicom call 0300 555 1777
In writing: Legal Ombudsman, PO Box 6806, Wolverhampton, WV1 9WJ
Do not send original documents to the Legal Ombudsman. They will scan any documents you send to make computer copies and then destroy the originals.
The Legal Ombudsman deals with issues of service. Should you have any other concerns about your dealings with the firm, if unresolved these can be referred to the our regulator, the Solicitors Regulation Authority.