Introduction
If you are dissatisfied with our service, you have the right to complain.
At all times, we aim to provide a high standard of professional service but if you feel that this was not the case, we want to know so that we can do our best to resolve the problem.
During our complaint’s procedure, we aim to:
a. Listen to your concerns and gather the information to helps us improving in the future
b. Provide you with a prompt response and our assurance that the matter is being reviewed.
c. make sure all complaints are investigated fairly and in a timely manner;
d. make sure that all options are considered and explored when resolving your complaints so that the matter can be resolved amicably.
What to do if you have a complaint
Please discuss your concerns with the lawyer who has the day to day conduct of your matter or report the matter directly to the Supervisor of the Department.
The Head of Department will investigate your concerns by seeking information from the documents on the file and from anyone else who may be involved and will contact you with a proposal for resolution. We will usually propose to hold a short meeting via Zoom to discuss your concerns face to face and work towards acceptable solution. Following that discussion, we will write to you to confirm what was discussed and propose our suggested resolution to the complaint. If you do not want to discuss the matter with us or it is not possible, we will send you a detailed reply to your complaint as above.
If the proposal is not acceptable to you, may request that the risk and compliance manager and Principal Solicitor to deal with your complaint instead. All our complaints are reported and recorded in our central register. The risk and compliance manager will be dealing with your complaints as requested.
The details are as follows:
Jerry Kizza
e-mail: jerry@londonadvicecentre.org
London Advice Centre, 71-75 Uxbridge Road, London, W5 5SL
Alternatively, you may call our switchboard on 020 3092 8211 and ask to be put through to a member of the risk and compliance team in order to discuss a complaint. A member of the risk and compliance team will contact you to acknowledge your complaint, letting you know the name of the person who will be dealing with your complaint, and may ask you to confirm or provide further details.
Timescales
In normal circumstances you are required to register a complaint within one year. You must then allow us 8 weeks to try to resolve your complaint before contacting the Legal Ombudsman. A complaint to the Legal Ombudsman must normally be made within six months of the date of the conclusion of the Firm’s complaints procedure.
In summary:
1. You must register your complaint with us within one year.
2. Allow us 8 weeks to try to resolve your complaint.
3. After this time, you can contact the Legal Ombudsman (but you must do so within 6 months).
Referral to the Legal Ombudsman
The Legal Ombudsman’s details are:
PO Box 6806, Wolverhampton, WV1 9WJ
t: 0300 555 0333
e: enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk
You should contact the Ombudsman no later than:
a. six months after receiving our final response to the complaint and
b. six years from the date of the act/omission complained of or, where later, no more than three years from when you should reasonably have known there was cause for a complaint.
Before accepting a complaint for investigation the Legal Ombudsman will usually check that you have tried to resolve your complaint with us first and that the complaint falls within their jurisdiction as set out in their scheme rules.
If you would like more information about the Legal Ombudsman, please contact them or visit their website www.legalombudsman.org.uk
To register a formal complaint, please write to us and include all the information suggested by the Legal Ombudsman – their website includes some useful checklists and sample letters.
In addition to the Legal Ombudsman, several other complaints bodies exist which are also able to deal with complaints about legal services – these are: Ombudsman Services, ProMediate, Small Claims Mediation and the European Online Dispute Resolution platform. Information about these alternatives can be found at:
www.ombudsman-services.org
www.promediate.co.uk
ec.europa.eu/consumers/odr/
Complaining to Solicitors Regulation Authority ( SRA)
If your concern is about professional misconduct, such as dishonesty or discrimination, rather than the way in which we have provided a service, please do discuss this with us, by contacting the risk and compliance team using the above contact details.
We take any such allegation seriously and would welcome the opportunity to discuss this with you. If we are unable to resolve your misconduct concerns, you are entitled to refer the matter to the Solicitors Regulation Authority.
Visit the SRA’s website at https://www.sra.org.uk/consumers/problems/report-solicitor.page for details of how to submit a report.