Form 24.1(e) – Client’s Information: Complaints Procedure

Oxley & Coward Solicitors LLP

Complaints Handling Procedure

Our Complaints Policy

Oxley & Coward Solicitors LLP is 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

If you have a complaint, please contact us by writing – post or email with the details.

What will happen next?

1. We will send you a letter acknowledging receipt of your complaint within seven days of our 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 Partner, Mr Khalid Sadiq, who will review your matter file and speak to the member of staff who acted for you.

3. Mr Sadiq may (if appropriate) contact you by telephone to discuss and hopefully (if possible) resolve your complaint (informal resolution). If informal resolution is deemed appropriate then Mr Sadiq will contact you within 14 days of us sending you the acknowledgement letter.  If your complaint is resolved by informal resolution then step 4 will not be followed.  If your complaint cannot be resolved by informal resolution or informal resolution is not appropriate then step 4 below should be followed.

4. Mr Sadiq will send you a detailed written reply to your complaint, including his suggestions for resolving the matter, in about 21 days of sending you the acknowledgement letter. In complex cases we may ask for longer than 21 days to reply.

5. At this stage, if you are still not satisfied, you should contact us again within 10 days of receiving the detailed written response to explain why you remain unhappy with our response and we will arrange for our Compliance Officer for Legal Practice (COLP) to review the decision.

6. We will write to you within 18 days of receiving your request for a review, confirming our final decision on your complaint and explaining our reasons. If you are not satisfied with the final review decision from our COLP, then any complaint to the Legal Ombudsman must be made within six months of the date of our COLP’s final decision.

7. If you have any further concerns about the outcomes of the investigation or how we dealt with your concerns, you may write to the Legal Ombudsman, which is an independent complaints handling body.  If you want to contact the Legal Ombudsman you can call them on 0300 555 0333, email them at enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk or write to them at:

Legal Ombudsman
PO Box 6167
Slough
SL1 0EH

Any complaint to the Legal Ombudsman must usually be made within 12 months of the date of the act/omission you are complaining of or within 12 months of you reasonably knowing there was a course for complaint.  For further information, you should contact the Legal Ombudsman.   The Legal Ombudsman has provided further guidance on its service at www.legalombudsman.org.uk.

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

Alternative complaints bodies (such as Ombudsman Services) 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 Ombudsman Services.

Divorce rates are on the decline according to the latest official statistics, with just over 80,000 completed in 2022, down by almost 30% from 113,505 in 2021, but delays in the family courts mean couples are waiting longer than ever to finalise the parting of their ways. 

While the figures show the lowest rate of divorce since 1971, the introduction in April 2022 of new legislation that set out minimum waiting periods at key stages of the process may have slowed down the numbers reaching the stage of final order.

The Divorce, Dissolution and Separation Act also introduced a major change with ‘no fault divorce’, allowing couples to act by joint agreement, rather than having to attribute blame to one party, or go through a period of separation.

In overhauling the divorce and the family court process, the government also proposed that couples be required to enter mediation before making a court application.  Backed by a mediation voucher scheme, the aim was to reduce the number of cases going to court, but following consultation, which highlighted the potential for domestic abusers to intimidate, the government has withdrawn plans to make it obligatory.  Instead, they will encourage mediation where it is safe, but will run a pilot to look at ways to fund the provision of early legal advice for parents to ease the process.

This looks to be increasingly important, with research by Bristol University for the Nuffield Foundation suggesting that many couples are simply figuring out money matters themselves, without any legal guidance or process, and this is often leaving women worse off.

The report says most divorcing couples are not accessing any support when making key arrangements including housing, pensions and ongoing maintenance.  And unlike the news headlines of rich spouses dividing the spoils, the researchers found that the median value of assets owned by divorcing couples was just £135,000.

Family law expert Lizzie Bell of Rotherham-based solicitors Oxley & Coward Solicitors LLP explained:  “Lack of advice means a fair outcome isn’t being achieved in many divorces, and better access to legal advice is an important way to overcome this so the government’s latest announcement is welcome.

“For those going through the stress of separation, and perhaps already trying to run two homes, getting professional guidance may feel like an expense to be avoided, but knowing your rights and having someone in your corner to support you is often a game-changer, both for financial equity but also in terms of wellbeing through the process.”

Official statistics show that divorce proceedings are taking up to a year to complete, and where the court needs to decide arrangements over children or over financial arrangements, it can take up to two years.  The data from the courts supports the Nuffield research, with official figures showing 40% of divorcing couples went to court without legal representation during the period January to March 2023.

In the latest reporting from the Official for National Statistics, the highest number of divorces for opposite-sex couples in 2022 was in those who had been married for more than 30 years, involving 6,683 couples.  Outside that group, the highest number of divorces were recorded by those who had been married for seven years, with 4,143 divorces, and the median duration for all same-sex couples was just under 13 years.  For same-sex divorces in the period, the median duration of marriage was 7.5 years for male same-sex couples and 6.3 years for female same-sex couples.

She added: “With high numbers of long marriages ending, combined with the long delays in the family courts, it’s important that couples review their wills at the point of separation to be sure they reflect their wishes from that point on.  And if they haven’t made a will, then this is the time to think about making one.

“An existing will leaving everything to your spouse remains valid until the final order for divorce is confirmed, even if you have separated or received your conditional order, as the marriage has not yet ended officially.  It is only after the final order that an existing will, or the part referencing your ex-spouse, will become invalid.  The same principle applies if you don’t have a will; until you have the final order, your yet-to-be ex-spouse is treated as if you were in an ongoing relationship.”

Before the new legislation was introduced in 2022, the two stages of conditional and final order were known as decree nisi and decree absolute.

[This is not legal advice; it is intended to provide information of general interest about current legal issues].

Diversity Survey 2023 Report – 2022-12-30 to 2023-07-01

What form of notice should you use:

The form of notice used to make your tenant aware that you wish to gain possession of your property will depend on several factors, such as the type of tenancy agreement you have your reason for wanting to regain possession of your property.

• If you have an Assured Tenancy, you may only use the section 8 procedure.
• If you have an Assured Shorthold Tenancy, you may potentially use the section 8 or section 21 procedure.

When you have the option of using either the section 8 or section 21 procedure, you must consider your reason for repossession. For example, if possession is required because your tenant is in rent arrears and you want to recover those arrears, then a section 8 notice could be more appropriate. Rent arrears are not recoverable under the section 21 procedure. If your aim is simply repossession of the property, then the section 21 procedure could be more appropriate as if the notice is served correctly possession should be granted and the case could be dealt with without a hearing, making it more cost effective. However, beware. You cannot serve a section 21 notice to bring a tenancy to an end before date when the fixed term of the tenancy would come to an end.

When a section 8 notice can be used:

Serving a section 8 notice is governed by Section 8 of the Housing Act 1988.  Under the section 8 procedure, there are mandatory and discretionary grounds that a landlord can use to gain possession, under which the Courts will, or may under their discretion, order possession of a property.

Some examples of the mandatory grounds, where the courts must grant possession include:

• The landlord requires the property to use as their principal home;
• The tenant has engaged in anti-social or criminal behaviour; or
• There are serious rent arrears (i.e. when rent is payable monthly, the tenant is at least two months in arrears).

Some examples of the discretionary grounds which can be relied upon, upon which the court may order possession, include:

• There is suitable alternative accommodation which can be made available to the tenant;
• The tenant persistently delays in payment of rent; or
• The condition of the property has worsened due to the tenant or their occupants.

Length of Section 8 Notice:

After establishing which ground(s) you want to rely upon, notice must be validly served on the tenant in the form prescribed by the legislation, and must be give the correct amount of time for the tenant to vacate the property. The length of time the tenant must be given before they have to leave the property, depends on which grounds you are giving notice under, and ranges between two weeks’ and two months’ notice.

After the notice period has ended, if the tenant has not vacated the property, you have one year from the date of the notice to start possession proceedings in the court to enforce the notice and ask for a possession order to be granted.

Section 8 Possession Proceedings:

To begin the possession proceedings, you must complete a claim form and particulars of claim form. These forms will include details of the grounds you specified in the original section 8 notice which you served that you are relying upon to gain possession, evidence relied upon to persuade the court the ground exists and can be relied upon (e.g. evidence of the rent arrears outstanding), along with personal information about yourself and the tenant.

If everything is in order, the court will issue the claim, returning the sealed forms for you to serve on the tenant or confirming it has served the tenant for you. The next steps will vary depending on the course of action the tenant chooses. They may acknowledge service, raise a defence to the claim or do nothing. The matter will be listed for a hearing in front of a court judge. On the hearing date the case will be heard in front of a judge, who may order possession of the property, make directions for steps to be taken by you and the tenant before a subsequent hearing takes place, or it may dismiss the claim if not all of the paperwork is in order.

If you are successful at a hearing, an order for possession will be made. If you are unsuccessful in obtaining a possession order, the tenant may continue to remain in the property until they move out on their own accord and surrender the property back to you, you can negotiate bringing the tenancy to an end by agreement, or a possession order is later obtained from the court.

Order for possession by the Courts:

After an order for possession is made by the Courts, the tenant is legally required to leave the property on the date specified. If they fail to leave, you must instruct bailiffs to act on your behalf to remove the tenant from the property, otherwise you could be at risk of unlawfully evicting the tenant.

Advice

Seeking advice from a law firm experienced in landlord and tenant disputes is highly recommended, to assist in determining the correct form of notice is prepared and served on your tenant(s), which can then be relied upon if the tenant doesn’t move out and court proceedings become necessary. There is no guarantee that a tenant will move out on receiving a notice asking them to, but by ensuring your paperwork is in order, you are likely to stand the best chance at obtaining a possession order and being able to recover your property even if the help of bailiffs are later required.

Get in touch today if you are experiencing landlord and tenant issues, to see how we can help.