Complaints Procedure

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.
  1. 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.
  1. 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.
  1. 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.
  1. 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.
  1. We will write to you within 18 days of receiving your request for a review, confirming our final position on your complaint and explaining our reasons.
  1. 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

P O 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.

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