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. We seek to deal with all complaints promptly, fairly, openly and effectively.
Our Complaints Procedure
If you have a complaint, please contact the fee earner with whom you have been dealing in the first instance. If the matter remains unresolved, please contact our Practice Manager Nigel Askew either in writing at 6 Bridge Street, Louth, Lincolnshire LN11 0DP or email at nigel@nigelaskew-solicitor.co.uk or on the telephone (01507 609027).
He is also the firm’s Complaints Officer and the firm’s Compliance Officer for Legal Practice (COLP). Please note that our complaints procedure is free of charge and no fees will be raised regarding to the investigation of your
complaint.
What Will Happen Next?
If a formal complaint is sent to Mr Askew:-
1. We will send you a letter (usually within 3 days) acknowledging your formal complaint, specifying the length of time it will take to investigate your complaint and respond to it in writing. This letter may also ask you to confirm or explain any additional details that may be needed.
2. We will record your complaint in our central register and open a file for your complaint. We will then start to investigate your complaint.
3. As part of the investigation of your complaint the Practice Manager in conjunction with the COLP will take the following action:-
3.1. the Practice Manager and the COLP will ask the person who acted for you to comment on your complaint within 5 days.
3.2. The Complaints Partner and/or the COLP will need to read your file.
4. After taking the above action, the Practice Manager will write to you within the time frame set out in the letter acknowledging your complaint (usually 21 days), setting out the conclusions of the investigation into your complaint. This letter will either propose possible solutions to resolve your complaint and/or suggest a meeting if you would personally like to meet with him about your complaint.
5. If you request a meeting, then this will be arranged at a time to suit your convenience.
6. If a meeting takes place, then we will write to you within 7 days thereafter setting out the details of the meeting and the resolution of your complaint that we have agreed with you if this was achieved. In an appropriate case, we could offer an apology, a reduction of any bill or a repayment in relation to any payment received.
7. If you are still not satisfied, please let us know and if you wish the Complaints Officer to review your complaint after receiving the letter dealing with the outcome of our investigation, then you must write to us setting out the basis upon which you wish us to review the matter. We would generally aim to carry out this review and let you know the result within 14 days. This will happen in one of the following ways:-
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- Nigel Askew will review his own decision.
- We will arrange for another firm to review your complaint.
8. Once the review has been completed the Complaints Partner will write to you confirming our final position on your complaint setting out the reasons for the decision we have reached.
9. If you are still not satisfied with our decision then you have the right to refer your complaint to The Legal Ombudsman at Legal Ombudsman, PO Box 6806, Wolverhampton WV1 9WJ, telephone number 0300 555 0333, calling from overseas telephone number: +44 121 245 3050, email: enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk, website: www.legalombudsman.org.uk.
10. Please note that you must refer your complaint to the Legal Ombudsman within 6 months from the date of our decision, otherwise they do have the right to decline to review your complaint. If you have any concerns about the time limit, you should contact the Legal Ombudsman at the contact details specified above.
11. The complaints handling scheme operated by the Legal Ombudsman does not deal with complaints from most businesses unless you are a small enterprise. If you need guidance on this point you should contact the Legal Ombudsman, whose details are set out at paragraph 9 above. The Legal Ombudsman will not deal with complaints from trustees where the asset value of the trust is more than £1 million or from a club or association where its annual income exceeds £1 million. We will deal with any complaints made by businesses, trusts, clubs and associations falling into such categories under our complaint handling procedures set out above.
Solicitors Regulation Authority No: 598569
If we have to change any of the procedures and timescales above, we will let you know and explain why.
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.
Visit their website to see how you can raise your concerns with the Solicitors Regulation Authority at https://www.sra.org.uk/consumers/problems/report-solicitor/