Nicholson Portnell

Complaints Procedure

We want to give you the best possible service. We make every effort to provide a courteous, prompt and efficient service and we trust you will be pleased with this.  In the unlikely event that you have any criticism of our service, we have a complaints procedure, which is set out below.

All firms of solicitors are obliged to attempt to resolve problems that clients may have with the service provided. It is therefore important that you immediately raise any concerns with us. We value you as clients and would not wish you to think you have any reason to be unhappy with the firm.

However, if at any point you become unhappy or concerned about the service we 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 that fee earner cannot resolve the matter, please raise the same in writing with Mr R G Nelson or, in the case of a matter concerning Mr Nelson, please contact Mark Aspin at Cartmell Shepherd Solicitors.

We would hope that this procedure would deal with any such issue to your satisfaction. If not, you can raise a formal complaint. If you would like to make a formal complaint, please see our full complaints procedure below. Making a complaint will not affect how we handle your case.

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 will investigate your complaint promptly, fairly and free of charge.

What will happen next?

  1. We will send you a letter acknowledging your complaint and 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 five working days of us receiving your complaint.
  1. We will record your complaint in our central register and open a separate file for your complaint. The Central Register will identify the cause of any problem of which the client has complained, any appropriate redress offered, and any unsatisfactory procedures corrected.
  1. We will then start to investigate your complaint. This will normally involve the following steps.
  • We will pass your complaint to our Client Care partner.
  • They will ask the member of staff who acted for you to respond to your complaint.
  • They will then examine their response and the information in your complaint file. If necessary, they may also speak to them.
  1. We may invite you to a meeting to discuss your complaint. In any event the Client Care partner will send you a detailed reply to your complaint. This will include their suggestions for resolving the matter. You may expect our response within three weeks from the original acknowledgement unless we ask you to a meeting.
  2. At this stage, if you are still not satisfied you may contact us again. We will then arrange to review our decision. This will be undertaken by another partner of the firm who will review the Client Care partner’s decision.
  1. We will let you know the result of the review. At this time we will write to you confirming our final position on your complaint and explaining our reasons. If your complaint has not been satisfactorily resolved within 8 weeks following the making of your complaint, or if we have completed our complaints procedure, and you are still dissatisfied, you may ask the Legal Ombudsman (enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk or 0300 555 0333) to consider your complaint. Any application to the Legal Ombudsman should be made within six months of your last contact with this firm.

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

The Solicitors Regulation Authority can help you if you are concerned about our behaviour. Although we would stress that we aim to avoid any of the following, 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 with the Solicitors Regulation Authority.

What do to if we cannot resolve your complaint

Legal Ombudsman

The Legal Ombudsman can help you if we are unable to resolve your complaint ourselves. 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 any complaint to the Legal Ombudsman must be submitted:

  • Within six months of receiving a final response from us to your complaint and
    • No more than one year from the date of our act/omission; or
    • No more than one year from when you should reasonably have known there was cause for complaint.

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 9W