Complaints Procedure

We encourage all clients informally to bring the issues for complaint directly to the person handling the matter as soon as they become aware of those issues in order that they can be resolved quickly.

If you have a complaint that you cannot, or do not wish to resolve with the person handling your file, please telephone, write to their supervisor, or to the Complaints Handling Officer, Mr James Matthews, in the first instance. You can write to us at our office address or email law@tassells-solicitors.co.uk. If your complaint concerns the Complaints Handling Officer it should be directed to the firm’s Managing Partner, Alexandra Gordon.

Initial stages

1 The person who has been handling your file will report to their supervisor, if any and to Complaints Handling Officer. The complaint will be recorded in our central register. The complaint handler will acknowledge your complaint in writing within five working days and may ask you to confirm or explain the details.

2 At this stage if you have not already provided details of your complaint we will ask you to do so.

Timetable

3 In all cases we will suggest a timetable in writing in which to investigate your complaint. In some cases a meeting will be appropriate. The timescale may depend on the sensitivity and complexity of the complaint

Investigation

4 Following receipt of your detailed comments, we shall investigate your complaint, which will consist of:

  • Speaking to the person(s) who dealt with your matter.
  • Reading the papers relevant to the complaint and, as much of our file as is necessary to give a background to the compliant and nature of the case.

If the timescale in our estimate is not sufficient to complete the investigation, we will write to you as soon as this becomes apparent suggesting a new timescale (this may be relevant if we are still acting or have other obligations to fulfil in connection with your case).

5 Following the investigation we will send you a detailed reply to your complaint. This will include suggestions for resolving the matter.

We aim to do this within five working days of completing the investigation.

6 Within two days of any meeting we will write to you to confirm what took place and any solutions agreed with you.

7 At this stage, if you are still not satisfied you can write to us again. We will review the matter and reply to you within 14 working days. At this time we will write to you confirming our final position on your complaint, explaining our reasons.

We expect to be able to complete the whole process within eight weeks.

If you are still not satisfied with the outcome you may within six months of completion of our investigation, refer your complaint to:

Legal Ombudsman
PO Box 6167
Slough SL1 0EH
Tel: 0300 555 0333

E-mail: enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk

The time limits for referring a complaint to the Legal Ombudsman will be no later than:

• One year from the date of the act or omission being complained about; or
• One year from the date when the complainant should have realised that there was cause for complaint.

A complainant is required to bring their complaint to LeO within six months of the date of the final complaint response.

What to do if you are unhappy about our behaviour?

8 The Solicitors Regulation authority can help if you are concerned about our behaviour. This could be things like dishonesty, taking or losing your money, or treating you unfairly because of your age, a disability or other characteristic.

To find out more visit the Solicitors Regulation Authority’s website https://www.sra.org.uk/

 

Tassells Solicitors
20 West Street
Faversham
Kent
ME13 7JF