DENHAMS Solicitors

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. If you have a complaint, please contact us in writing with the details. Every effort will be made to reach a solution which is acceptable to all parties. The purpose of the complaints policy is to ensure that a complaint is dealt with fairly and within time limits.

We endeavour to ensure that at any early stage any queries are dealt with informally between the Client and the Solicitor concerned (Stage 1). If however the problem cannot be resolved informally then the formal complaints procedure should be used (Stage 2).  No charge will be made for dealing with your complaint.

Stage 1

 

The first stage in the procedure is for the complaint to be raised in writing formally with the Solicitor who conducted the work. We will send you a letter acknowledging receipt of your complaint within seven working days of receiving it, enclosing a copy of this Policy. If applicable, a fuller response will be made within 14 days thereafter. The initial response will make clear whether or not any further response will be sent. If appropriate, the response will include proposals for resolution of the complaint and if necessary discussions will then take place between the Client and the Solicitor to resolve the problem.

If the complaint is not resolved in this way, stage 2 will be implemented.

Stage 2

The Client should write to Steve Denham. He will acknowledge your letter within three working days of receiving it. He will then investigate the matter, usually involving a review of the file on the matter  Steve Denham will then invite you to a meeting to discuss and hopefully resolve your complaint. He will do this within 14 days of sending you the acknowledgement letter.

Within three working days of the meeting, Steve Denham 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, Steve Denham will send you a detailed written reply to your complaint, including his suggestions for resolving the matter, within 21 days of sending you the acknowledgement letter.

At this stage, if you are still not satisfied, you should contact us again and we will arrange for the matter to be reviewed, or an appropriate alternative method of review such as mediation.
We will write to you within 14 days of receiving your request for a review, or within 14 days of mediation taking place, confirming our final position on your complaint and explaining our reasons.

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If we have to change any of the timescales above, we will let you know and explain why.

If you are still not satisfied, you can then contact the Legal Ombudsman Service at PO Box 6806 Wolverhampton WV1 9WJ about your complaint. However, complaints regarding bills cannot be referred to the Legal Ombudsman Service if you have applied to the Court for assessment of the bill. If we take more than 8 weeks to resolve your complaint you can refer it to the Legal Ombudsman without waiting for our final response. You must take your complaint to the Legal Ombudsman Service within six months of you receiving a final response from us to your complaint, and no more than six years from the date of the act/omission complained about or no more than three years from when you should reasonably have known there was cause for complaint.

 

For further information, you should contact the Legal Ombudsman Service on 0300 555 0333 or at www.legalombudsman.org.uk. Email enquiries should be directed to enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk.

You can also raise concerns about our behaviour with the Solicitors Regulation Authority. This could be for things like dishonesty, taking or losing your money or treating you unfairly because of your age, a disability or other characteristic. Information about reporting an individual or firm to the SRA is available on the SRA website at www.sra.org.uk/consumers/problems/report-solicitor.page.

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