COMPLAINTS POLICY

1. 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.

Our Complaints Procedure

2. If you have a complaint, in the first instance discuss this with the person who is representing you.  If this does not resolve matters, or you don’t feel comfortable doing so, please contact us with the details. Please mark your letter or e-mail with the word ‘Complaint’.

What Will Happen Next?

3. We will send you a letter acknowledging receipt of your complaint within three days of us receiving the complaint, enclosing a copy of this procedure.

4. We will then investigate your complaint. This will normally involve passing your complaint to a Partner, Mark Eyles, who will review your file and speak to the member of staff who acted for you. If the complaint is about Mark Eyles, the complaint will be passed to Kate Scammell, Partner (CILEX).  In some cases, we will refer your case to our external complaints handling firm, CRCS Legal, whose contact details are as follows:

E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Tel: 0330 2210511

Address: 86-90 Paul Street, London EC2A 4NE  

     5. In the event we deal with your complaint internally:

1. Mark Eyles will either provide you with a written response to your complaint or invite you to a meeting to discuss and hopefully resolve your complaint. He will do this within 28 days of sending you the acknowledgement letter.
2. Within three days of any meeting, Mark Eyles, will write to you to confirm what took place and any solutions he has agreed with you.
3. At this stage, if you are still not satisfied, you should contact us again and we will consider whether a further internal review will take place or whether to refer your complaint to CRCS Legal to review the decision.

6. In the event of a referral to CRCS Legal or a further internal review they will take the following steps:

1. A member of the firm’s management team or a Complaint Manager from CRCS Legal will contact you either in writing, e-mail or telephone to acknowledge your concerns within 5 working days of initial contact.
2. Following an initial acknowledgement, you will be contacted, and an understanding of your concerns will be set out to you. These two steps may be combined in that you may receive an acknowledgement which also sets out the understanding of your complaint. You may be asked to provide any further comments, or further information, and you will be asked to confirm that the understanding is correct.  You will also be asked how you would like to resolve your complaint.  This will happen within 5 working days of the initial acknowledgement of the complaint.  If you do not confirm that the understanding is correct within 7 days, it will be assumed that the summary is correct, and the firm’s representative / Complaint Manager will move to the next stage.
3. The firm’s representative / Complaint Manager may speak with the person involved, if it is necessary to address your concerns and a review of your file will be undertaken. This action will take place within 21 working days of your providing further information or clarification that the summary is correct.
4. The firm’s representative / Complaint Manager will then write to you setting out their view of your complaint and making any proposal for resolution, within 7 working days of completing the review. You will be asked to provide any further comments and to consider any resolution that is being proposed.
5. If you provide any further comments, these will be addressed within 7 working days of receipt of those further comments.

• NB The timescales are subject to the firm’s representative’s Complaint Manager’s availability, for example they may have to change to allow for holiday or absence from the office. If the timescale has to change you will be advised accordingly.

7. We have 8 weeks in which to deal with you complaint. If we do not deal with it within this timeframe or if you still remain unhappy once your complaint has been dealt with, you can raise your concerns with The Legal Ombudsman whose contact details are as follows:

Legal Ombudsman,

PO Box 6167

Slough

SL1 0EH

0300 555 0333

A referral must be made to The Legal Ombudsman within 6 months of the date of the letter confirming the investigation has come to an end and your file is closed in relation to the complaint that has been dealt with. The Ombudsman expects complaints to be referred to them within one year of the act or omission complained of or within one year of you realising there was a concern. 

 What to do if you are unhappy with our behaviour

The Solicitors Regulation Authority can help 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.

They can be contacted via their website: SRA | Contact us | Solicitors Regulation Authority