We want to give you the best possible service. However, if at any point you become unhappy or concerned about the service our Firm 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 this stage. If you would like to make a formal complaint, then you can read our full complaints procedure below. Making a complaint will not affect how we handle your case.
The Solicitors Regulation Authority can help you if you are concerned about our behaviour. 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.
You can raise your concerns at any time with the Solicitors Regulation Authority by either:
Completing the form available from the SRA’s website: https://www.sra.org.uk/consumers/problems/report-solicitor
Or by sending an e-mail to: contactcentre@sra.org.uk
The SRA’s telephone contact centre is not currently available.
AJS Complaints Procedure
We are committed to a high-quality legal advice and client care. At any stage if you are unhappy about our representation, advice or even about our bill, we will be happy to discuss the matter with you. We will try to resolve your concern promptly, fairly, and effectively. We will not charge you for resolving your concerns as we believe that this will help us to improve our standards.
If you are not satisfied with the service you have received by our firm, we ask that all complaints are kindly sent to us in writing via post or email to solicitors@localhost.
Stage (1)
We will acknowledge receipt of your complaint within 5 working days.
Stage (2)
We will notify the person you made a complaint against to provide a response and discuss same with the complaints manager who will then investigate your complaint. This will take us 21 days from date of acknowledgement of your complaint in Stage 1.
Stage (3)
The complaints manager will provide you with a detailed response to your complaint within 7 working days upon conclusion of investigations at Stage 2.
Stage (4)
If you are not satisfied with the outcome of your complaint upon receipt of our response and have provided us with reasons you are not satisfied, our complaints manager will review the reasons provided by you and will respond within 14 working days. Part of the response could be inviting you into a meeting in the office to discuss your complaint further.
We will then investigate your complaint. This will normally involve passing your complaint to the Solicitor who has the conduct of your case. Complaints Manager will review your matter file and speak to the member of staff who acted for you and will keep the senior partner apprised of the complaint that you have raised.
Our Complaints Manager will then contact you to discuss your complaint. If necessary, they will invite you to a meeting to discuss and hopefully resolve your complaint. They will do this within 14 days of sending you the acknowledgement letter.
Our Complaints Manager will then send you a detailed written reply to your complaint, including suggestions for resolving the matter (or any solutions has agreed with you) within 21 days of sending you the acknowledgement letter.
(Stage 5)
At this stage, if you are still not satisfied, you should contact us again and we will arrange for your complaint to be investigated further.
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.
If we have to change any of the timescales above, we will let you know and explain why.
Contacting the Legal Ombudsman
The Legal Ombudsman can help you if we are unable to resolve your complaint ourselves and you qualify under the Scheme Rules (eg individuals and micro businesses). They will look at your complaint independently and it will not affect how we handle your case.
Before accepting a complaint for investigation, the Legal Ombudsman will check that you have tried to resolve your complaint with us first. If you have, then you must take your complaint to the Legal Ombudsman:
* within six months of receiving a final response to your complaint
And
* No more than six years from the date of act/omission; or
* No more than three years from when you should reasonably have known there was cause for complaint.
You can refer your complaint to the Legal Ombudsman if it has not been resolved within 8 weeks of your complaint first being made, whether you initially made the complaint verbally or in writing.
If you would like more information about the Legal Ombudsman, please contact them.
Contact details
Visit: www.legalombudsman.org.uk
Call: 0300 555 0333 between 9am to 5pm.
Email: enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk
Legal Ombudsman PO Box 6806, Wolverhampton, WV1 9WJ
Alternative Dispute Resolution Schemes
Alternative complaints bodies (e.g. Promediate) exist which are competent to deal with complaints about legal services should both you and our firm wish to use such a scheme.
However, we don’t currently agree to use this Alternative Dispute Resolution service in view of the availability of the independent Legal Ombudsman Service established under the Legal Services Act 2007. We are bound by our Regulatory Code to comply with the Legal Ombudsman.
Contracts Entered Into Online
If we are unable to resolve your complaint which relates to a contract entered into online, you may contact the Online Dispute Resolution providers by accessing the following link: http://ec.europa.eu/consumers/odr