Complaints Procedure

COMPLAINTS PROCEDURE

1. The very fact that you are viewing this document suggests that you may have concerns about the service we are providing, or already have expressed some sort of complaint or that concern. You may make that concern known to any staff member who will within the next working day make sure that our Complaints and Risk Assessment Director is aware of it. He will ensure that the proper procedures for dealing with these matters are followed. It may well be that throughout the investigation you might be asked to provide further details of your complaint or concern, either verbally or in writing. If so it is important that you do so promptly.

   If your complaint is about any individual within the Company then we shall take the following steps.

   Step 1

   
   The person who is dealing with your case will attempt to resolve it with you to your reasonable satisfaction within 7 days of receiving the complaint. If he or she is unable to do that, or feels at the outset that they will be unable to do so, it will be passed on to that person’s supervisor.

    

   Step 2
   
   

   The supervisor will attempt to resolve it with you to your reasonable satisfaction within 7 days of him or her receiving the complaint. If he or she is unable to do that, or feels at the outset that they will be unable to do so, it will be passed on to the Complaints and Risk Assessment Director.

    

   Step 3

   
   The Complaints and Risk Assessment Director will then investigate your complaint. He will almost inevitably require further information from you which he will ask you for. He will normally provide you with a detailed response within 14 to 28 days of this stage being reached dependant upon the nature and complexity of the issue and the availability of all persons involved. The timescale will also be affected by how promptly you are able to respond to any request for further information.

   The response will set out our view of the issues raised and will include our proposals, if appropriate, for resolving those issues. If necessary we can then have further discussions with a view to reaching a resolution which is acceptable to all concerned.

   If you do not wish the person who is dealing with your case to attempt to resolve it then please notify him or her as soon as possible so that this matter can proceed straight to Step 2. Again, if you do not wish the supervisor to deal with it please tell us so we can move straight to Step 3.

   If your complaint is not about an individual but is about any of the policies or practices of the Company or indeed anything else then such complaint will be passed directly to the Complaints and Risk Assessment Director and dealt with according to Step 3.

   However your complaint is resolved, and at whatever stage it is resolved, you will be notified in writing. Similarly, in the unlikely event that it is not resolved, you will be notified of that outcome in writing and provided with reasons for our decision. In either case this will be by way of a final response letter.

   Stephen Marsden is the Company’s Complaints and Risk Assessment Director. His contact details are:

   Dicksons Solicitors Limited
   32-36 Cheapside
   Hanley
   Stoke on Trent
   ST1 1HQ

   Tel: 01782 262424
   Email: stephen.marsden@dicksonssolicitors.co.uk

    

   If he is unavailable or you feel it inappropriate to contact him for any reason you can instead contact Andrew Grace at the same address and telephone number, or

   Email: andrew.grace@dicksonssolicitors.co.uk

    

   If for any reason we are unable to resolve the problem between us then, should you wish to take the matter further, you may pursue your complaint further. If it is about the work we did for you or the bill(s) rendered then to the Legal Ombudsman whose contact details are: –

   Legal Ombudsman
   PO Box 6167
   Slough
   SL1 0EH

   Telephone:
   0300 555 0333
   Email: enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk

    

   The Legal Ombudsman can investigate complaints up to one year from the date the problem arose, or one year from when you should have realised there was cause for complaint. If you wish to refer your complaint to the Legal Ombudsman it must be done within 6 months of the date of our final response letter.

    

   If it is about us telling lies, stealing from you, shutting down our firm without telling you or in any way breaking any of the rules of our governing body the SRA then to the Solicitors’ Regulation Authority by visiting their website at www.sra.org.uk/consumers/problems/report-solicitor/ and completing the report form.