Complaints Procedure

Raising concerns to ourselves, the Legal Ombudsman and the Solicitors Regulation Authority

We want to give you 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. This will help us to improve our service and standards.

We request 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. If you would like to make a formal complaint, then you can read our full complaints procedure below. Making a complaint will not affect how we handle your case.

What will happen next?

1. We will send you a letter or an email message acknowledging receipt of your complaint within three working days of us receiving the complaint, enclosing a copy of this procedure.
2. We will then investigate your complaint. This will normally involve passing your complaint to our Client Care solicitor, Azim Suleman, who is a sole practitioner, and who will review your matter file and if the matter was dealt with another fee-earner, speak to the member of staff who acted for you.
3. If practicable, Azim Suleman will then invite you to either a personal or virtual Zoom or Teams meeting to discuss and hopefully resolve your complaint. He will do this within 14 days of sending you the acknowledgement letter.
4. Within three days of the meeting, Azim Suleman 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, Azim Suleman will send you a detailed written reply to your complaint, including his suggestions for resolving the matter, within 21 days of sending you the acknowledgement letter.
6. After you receive our detailed reply to your complaint, if you are still not satisfied, you should contact us again and as this is a sole practitioner practice, Azim Suleman will either review his own decision or in our absolute discretion we may arrange for another lawyer (solicitor, barrister or costs lawyer (as may be appropriate or relevant) or someone unconnected with the matter at the Bromptons Solicitors to review the decision.
7. We will write to you within 14 days of receiving your request for review, confirming our final position on your complaint and explaining our reasons.

If we have to change any of the timescales above, we will let you know and explain why, e.g., illness or being in court or on holiday.

What to do if we cannot resolve your complaint

The Legal Ombudsman or the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) 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.

The Legal Ombudsman will check that you have tried to resolve your complaint with us first before accepting a complaint for investigation. If you have, then you must take your complaint to the Legal Ombudsman:

A complaint to the Legal Ombudsman must be made:

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

If you would like more information about the Legal Ombudsman, please contact them.

Visit: www.legalombudsman.org.uk
Call: General Enquiries Team Monday to Friday from 9am to 4pm on 0300 555 0333
Email: enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk
Post: Legal Ombudsman, PO Box 6167, Slough SL1 0EH

The Solicitors Regulation Authority can help you if you are concerned about how we conduct your matter. This could be due to your dissatisfaction with the manner in which we dealt with your matter, or if you have concerns relating to dishonesty, or taking or losing your money, or treating you unfairly because of your age, sex or disability or certain other characteristics.

Guidance for making a complaint to the Solicitors Regulation Authority can be found here: www.sra.org.uk/consumers/problems/report-solicitor.