QUALITYSOLICITORS PARKINSON WRIGHT
COMPLAINTS PROCEDURE
Your Right to Make a Complaint
Solicitors
1. Our Policy
You will not be charged for any time spent handling your complaint.
You can request a copy of this complaint procedure at any time.
We issue all clients with a copy of this Complaint Procedure. When you raise a complaint.
We shall aim to deal with any complaint that we may receive promptly, fairly, openly, and effectively.
2. Making a Complaint
We want to give you the best possible service. However, if at any point you become unhappy or concerned about the service we have provided, then you should inform us immediately so that we can do our best to resolve the problem.
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 that stage. If you do not feel able to discuss your concerns with them, please contact the person responsible for the overall supervision of your matter, who will be named in the client care letter we sent you at the beginning of your matter.
If you do not feel able to raise your concerns with either the fee earner or their supervisor, or if you have raised your issues with the fee earner and you are still not satisfied with the response, you can refer the matter to the Firm’s Complaints Manager, who is Cyril Arridge, by emailing ca@parkinsonwright.co.uk or, writing to QualitySolicitors Parkinson Wright, Haswell House, St Nicholas Street, Worcester WR1 1UN.
Making a complaint will not affect how we handle your case. If you need to make a complaint, you should:
- Complain as soon as possible;
- Provide your full name and contact details;
- Provide us with your file reference number, if you have it;
- Be clear on what the issue is and how you would like it to be resolved;
- Allow us up to eight weeks to resolve your complaint.
If you require any help in making your complaint, we will try to help you.
3. Handling and Resolving a Complaint
We will write to you within three working days acknowledging your complaint, enclosing a copy of this policy.
We will investigate your complaint. This will usually involve:
- Reviewing your complaint;
- Reviewing your file(s) and other relevant documents; and
- Liaising with the person who dealt with your matter.
We may also need to ask you for further information or documents. If so, we will ask you to provide the information within a specific period of time.
We will update you on the progress of your complaint at appropriate times.
We may also, if appropriate, invite you to a meeting to discuss your complaint. You do not have to attend if you do not wish to or if you are unable to. We will be happy to discuss the matter with you by telephone [or video conference].
We will provide you with a written outcome following an investigation into your complaint to tell you what we have done and what we propose to do to resolve your complaint.
Our aim is to resolve all complaints within 8 weeks from the date of receipt. If you are not happy with our outcome or we have not provided you with an outcome within 8 weeks, you can contact the Legal Ombudsman.
If we cannot resolve your complaint, you can speak directly to the Legal Ombudsman who can help. They will look at your complaint independently and it will not affect how we handle your case. The Legal Ombudsman service is free of charge.
Before accepting a complaint for investigation, the Legal Ombudsman will check that you have tried to resolve your complaint with us first. If that has occurred, you must make your complaint to them:
- Within 6 months of receiving a final response to your complaint; and
- No laterthan 1 year from the date of act/omission; or
- No more than 1 year 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 as follows: -
Website: www.legalombudsman.org.uk.
Phone Number: 0300 555 0333 between 9am to 5pm.
Email: enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk.
Address: Legal Ombudsman PO Box 6167, Slough, SL1 0EH
For complaints that relate specifically to an alleged breach of the SRA Standard and Regulations including the SRA Accounts Rules, you should refer the matter to the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA). This could be for things like general misconduct, losing your money or treating you unfairly because of your age, a disability or other characteristic.
Website: https://www.sra.org.uk/consumers/problems/
Phone Number: 0370 606 2555 between 8am to 5pm. Except Tuesday 9:30am to 5pm.
Contact page: https://www.sra.org.uk/home/contact-us/
Estate Agents
We are committed to providing a professional service to all our clients and customers. When something goes wrong, we need you to tell us about it. This will help us to improve our standards.
If you have a complaint, please put it in writing, including as much detail as possible. We will then respond in line with the timeframes set out below (if you feel we have not sought to address your complaints within eight weeks, you may be able to refer your complaint to the Property Ombudsman to consider without our final viewpoint on the matter).
What will happen next?
- We will send you a letter acknowledging receipt of your complaint within three working days of receiving it, enclosing a copy of this procedure.
- We will then investigate your complaint. This will normally be dealt with by the Managing Partner who will review your file and speak to the member of staff who dealt with you. A formal written outcome of our investigation will be sent to you within 15 working days of sending the acknowledgement letter.
- If, at this stage, you are still not satisfied, you should contact us again and we will arrange for a separate review to take place by a senior member of staff.
- We will write to you within 15 working days of receiving your request for a review, confirming our final viewpoint on the matter.
If you remain dissatisfied, you can then contact The Property Ombudsman to request an independent review:
The Property Ombudsman Ltd
Milford House
43-55 Milford Street
Salisbury
Wiltshire
SP1 2BP
01722 333 306
Please note the following:
You will need to submit your complaint to The Property Ombudsman within 12 months of receiving our final viewpoint letter, including any evidence to support your case.
The Property Ombudsman requires that all complaints are addressed through this in-house complaints procedure, before being submitted for an independent review.