CLIENT COMPLAINT POLICY
About our Complaints Policy
BradleyHaynesLawiscommittedto providingahigh-qualitylegalservicetoall ourclients.
Whensomethinggoeswrong,weneedto knowaboutthisassoonaspossibleasthis willallowustoimproveourstandards,and servicetoourclients,ifwehavegot somethingwrong.
In the first instance, where possible, we would ask that you raise any initial client care problems with the person acting on you matter to give them the opportunity of resolving matters directly with you, as we find that matters can often be quickly resolved in this way.
You may, however, prefer to speak with the supervisor of the person handling your transaction, a supervisor’s details may be found in our initial client care letter. If your client care letter has been placed to one side, a further copy may be requested by letter or email, or by telephone by calling our main number and requesting this information from the relevant team Our main phone number is 01905 900 919
We have also noted on our website each conveyancer’s supervisor for easy reference for all of our clients.
If your concern or complaint has not been dealt with to your satisfaction by the person handling your case or by that persons’ supervisor, please contact us as soon the Client Care Officer as soon as possible so they are aware of the problem, so that this can be addressed. You may contact our Client Care Officer in writing, by letter, fax or email, or otherwise verbally, by telephone. The Client Care Officer may, in the first instance, request that a Head of Department complete an initial review of the complaint.
Client Care Officer
Please see our Client Care Officer’s contact details as follows:
Contact Elizabeth Bradley
By letter: Chilton House, 37 Foregate Street, Worcester, Worcestershire, WR1 1EE
By fax: 01905 330 093
By email: lizzie@bradleyhaynes.co.uk
By telephone: 01905 900 915
If and when you contact us with a complaint, we ask that you include in your complaint the following: your full name/s; your file reference; details of your complaint; what resolution you hope to achieve as a result of your complaint.
What will happen next?
We will send you a letter acknowledging receipt of your complaint within three days of receiving the complaint, enclosing a copy of this policy We will tell you how the complaint will be handled; when you can expect to hear from us with an initial and/or substantive response and confirm that we will deal with your compliant promptly, fairly and free of charge.
We invite you to inform us know if you require this policy or any documentation / correspondence in a different format to make the complaint procedure more comfortable for you, examples may include: a large print copy document, an audio version of the procedure or corresponding with you in paper form with a background colour applied to our written procedure and correspondence. This list is not exhaustive, and we welcome hearing from clients if a different format is preferred, which we will endeavour to support as is reasonably practicable. Equally if we can put in any reasonable adjustments to any meetings to make the meeting more comfortable, please inform us in advance and we will endeavour to provide the requested adjustment.
We will then investigate the complaint. This will normally involve passing your name/s to our Client Care Officer who will review the matter file (or delegate in the first instance for review by a Head of Department) and speak with the member of staff who acted/acts for you. If the complaint relates to the Client Care Officer in their role as a case manager, then the procedure will be carried out by an independent Director to the matter
In the first instance we will try to resolve the complaint in writing at an early stage, however the Client Care Officer may invite you to a meeting to discuss your complaint and, it is hoped, be able to resolve your complaint if the complaint is more complex in nature, or it is felt the better course of action. The meeting will be held within 21 days of sending you the acknowledgment letter, as noted above.
It may not be possible, for example for geographical reasons, to conduct any meeting face-to-face and a Zoom or telephonic meeting may therefore be preferred by you. We will aim to complete the meeting to best suit your needs, where possible.
Where the Client Care Officer is unable to attend the meeting in person, or where it is felt that the seriousness of the complaint warrants a senior Director to attend, you will be notified and the senior Director fully appraised of the complaint and the findings from the Client Care Officer’s review of the file, prior to the meeting.
If a meeting is completed, within seven days of the meeting, the Client Care Officer will write to you to confirm what took place and any solutions that were agreed.
If you do not request a meeting, or do not want to attend a meeting, we will send a detailed written reply to your complaint, including suggestions for resolving the matter, within 28 days of sending the acknowledgement letter, noted above.
At this stage, if you are still not satisfied, you are invited to contact us again, within 10 days, to explain why you remain unhappy with our response, and we will review your comments. Depending on the matter, we may at this stage arrange for another member of our team 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
At this point you are not satisfied; you may ask the Legal Ombudsman to consider the complaint. We hope that this does not become necessary and that we can resolve matters between us, but if you do feel the need to contact the Legal Ombudsman, their contact details are as follows:
Address: Legal Ombudsman PO Box 6167, Slough, SL1 0EH
Telephone Number: 0300 555 0333
Email: enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk
Website: www.legalombudsman.org.uk
Normally, you will need to bring a complaint to the Legal Ombudsman within six-months of receiving a final written response from us about their complaint and within the following timescales:
no later than one year from the date of the act or omission about which you are complaining occurring; or no later than one year from the date you should reasonably have known there were grounds for complaint.
Overview:
Please see a visual representation of the time line of our process here:
Day 1
Complaint received
Process meeting in person
By Day 24
Hold a meeting to discuss your complaint.
By Day 31
Provide you with a summary of the above meeting and our response to your complaint along with a record of any solutions that were agreed when we met
By Day 41
If you are still not satisfied, you are invited to contact us again, within 10 days, to explain why you remain unhappy with our response
By Day 55
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.
By Day 3
We will write to you to acknowledge your complaint and enclose a copy of our client complaints policy
Process dealing by writing
By Day 31
We will send a detailed written reply to your complaint, including suggestions for resolving the matter, within 28 days of sending the acknowledgement letter, noted above
By Day 41
If you are still not satisfied, you are invited to contact us again, within 10 days, to explain why you remain unhappy with our response
By Day 55
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.
Alternative dispute resolution
Alternative dispute resolution (ADR) bodies exist which are competent to deal with complaints about legal services should both a client and our practice wish to use such a scheme. We have, however, chosen not to adopt an ADR process. If therefore, you do wish to complain further, you should contact the Legal Ombudsman, as above.
Complaints in relation to bills
The complaints procedure above also applies to complaints arising concerning our bill/s. There may also be a right to object to the bill by applying to the court for an assessment of the bill under Part III of the Solicitors Act 1974; the Legal Ombudsman may not consider a complaint about a bill if you have applied to the court for assessment of a bill.
Notwithstanding any ongoing complaint, where an invoice has been raised which remains fully or partially outstanding, the firm reserves the right to charge interest in the outstanding amount and take recovery action.
Complaints in relation to the Firm’s behaviour
The Solicitors Regulation Authority can help if you are concerned about the Firm or any of its individual solicitor’s behaviour relating to dishonesty or discrimination.
To find out how to raise a concern to the Solicitors Regulation Authority, please visit their website: www sra org uk or telephone them on 0370 606 2555
Costs for dealing with complaints
We will not charge you for handling your complaint
The Legal Ombudsman service is free of charge
