Our complaints policy
We are 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. We are sorry that you have to take this step in making a complaint. We are committed in dealing with your complaint and to reach a satisfactory conclusion.
Our complaints procedure
If you have a complaint, contact us with the details.
We would ask that you attempt to resolve your matter with the person dealing with your matter however if you would prefer not to deal this person then the person with overall responsibility for complaints handling is Faheem Ali, a Partner for the Firm. However, Faheem Ali is able to delegate this role to another member of staff who will have equal position in this firm or an independent complaints handler. This rarely happens and if it does we will notify you of the relevant person’s details.
What Will Happen Next
- We will send you a letter acknowledging your complaint and asking you to confirm the details set out. We will also let you know the name of the person who will be dealing with your complaint. You can expect to receive our letter within seven working days of us receiving your complaint.
- We will record your complaint in our central register and open a separate file for your complaint.
- We will then investigate your complaint. This will normally involve passing your complaint to our Client Care partner/member, Faheem Ali, or delegated to an independent complaints handler who will review your matter file and speak to the member of staff who acted for you.
- Faheem Ali will send you a detailed reply to your complaint, including his suggestions for resolving the matter. He will do this within 28 days of sending you the acknowledgement letter.
- If you are still not satisfied, you can contact the Legal Ombudsman at PO Box 6806, Wolverhampton WV1 9WJ about your complaint. Any complaint to the Legal Ombudsman must usually be made within six months of the date of our final decision on your complaint but for further information, you should contact the Legal Ombudsman on 0300 555 0333 or email them at equiries@legalombudsman.org.uk.
- Ordinarily you can also ask the Legal Ombudsman to investigate your complaint if you are referring your complaint within: either 6 years of the problem happening, or 3 years from when you found out about it.
- Alternative complaints bodies such as ProMediate (http://www.promediate.co.uk/) exist, which are competent to deal with complaints about legal services should both you and our firm wish to use such a scheme. Alison Law does not agree to use ProMediate as we prefer the Legal Ombudsman’s clear adjudication process.
- We have 8 weeks from the date we receive your complaint to fully investigate and provide our final response to you.
- If we have to change any of the timescales above, we will let you know and explain why.
- You will not be charged for our time spent dealing with a complaint internally.
- If you are dissatisfied with our bill, you have the right to apply to the High Court for an assessment of our charges by an Officer of the Court under ss. 70, 71 and 72 of the Solicitors Act 1974. We hope that before making such an application you would first use our complaints procedure explained above.
- If you have any concerns about any misconduct or breach of the SRA Code of Conduct by our firm such as taking or losing your money, dishonesty or discrimination, you can also report the matter to our regulatory body, the Solicitors Regulation Authority. Their details are:
The Solicitors Regulation Authority
The Cube
Wharfside Street
Birmingham
B1 1RN
0370 606 2555
http://www.sra.org.uk/consumers/problems/report-solicitor.page
