Complaints

We are committed to providing you with the best possible service. 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 working on your case to discuss your concerns. We will do our best to resolve any issues at this stage.

If you would like to make a formal complaint, please contact us as soon as possible with the details. We investigate all complaints free of charge. Making a complaint will not affect how we handle your case and our complaints procedure is set out below. We have eight weeks to deal with your complaint. If we have not resolved the complaint within this time you may complain to the Legal Ombudsman.

Our procedure – what will happen next?

1. We will send you a letter acknowledging receipt of your complaint within two working days of receiving it, enclosing a copy of
this policy.

2. We will then investigate your complaint.

This will normally involve passing your complaint to our client care partner, David Williams, who will review your matter file and speak to the member of staff who acted for you.

If your complaint is about David Williams, or the level of service provided by him, we will refer your complaint to another partner in the Firm.

3. The person dealing with your complaint will then invite you to a meeting to discuss and hopefully resolve your complaint. He will do this within fifteen working days of sending you the acknowledgement letter.

4. Within three working days of the meeting, the person dealing with your complaint will write to you to confirm what took place and any solutions he has agreed with you.

5. If you do not want a meeting, or it is not possible, the person dealing with your complaint will send you a detailed written reply, including his suggestions for resolving the matter, within twenty working days of sending you the acknowledgement letter.

6. At this stage, if you are still not satisfied, you should contact us again and we will arrange for another partner in the firm to review the decision.

7. If you request a review, we will write to you within ten working days of receiving your request, confirming our final position on your complaint and explaining our reasons.

8. It is hoped that all complaints can be resolved successfully using our internal complaints process. However, if you are still not satisfied you can have the complaint independently looked at by the Legal Ombudsman (website: www.legalombudsman.org.uk). The Legal Ombudsman investigates complaints about service issues with lawyers. Their address is:

Legal Ombudsman, PO Box 6806, Wolverhampton, WV1 9WJ

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

The Legal Ombudsman expects complaints to be made to them within one year of the date of the act or omission about which you are concerned or within one year of you realising that there was a concern. You must also refer your concerns to the Legal Ombudsman within six months of our final response to you.

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. If you wish to raise concerns with the Solicitors Regulation Authority, their address is:

The Cube, 199 Wharfside Street, Birmingham B1 1RN

Telephone number: 0370 606 2555.

Additional information about how to make a report and their procedure can be found on their website at
www.sra.org.uk/consumers/problems/report-solicitor/

Alternative complaints bodies, such as ProMediate UK Ltd, exist which are competent to deal with complaints about legal services should both you and our Firm wish to use such a scheme. We do not agree to use ProMediate UK Ltd.

Further information

If you require any further information about our complaints policy, or if you would like this is another format (for example: audio, large print, braille), please do not hesitate to contact David Williams by post at Wykes O’Donnell Williams, 14/15 Queen Street, Ilkeston, Derbyshire, DE7 5GT, by email to davewilliams@wykesilkeston.co.uk or by telephone (01159 328776).