The firm is committed to providing a high standard of service to all our clients. 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.
In the first instance it may be helpful to contact the person who is working on your matter to discuss your concerns as that person is often best placed to clarify and resolve any issues. We will do our best to resolve any issues at this stage.
However, if you feel uncomfortable in contact the person directly, or if you have done so and feel that the complaint has not been resolved, then please contact Tania Austin, our Compliance Officer for Legal Practice (ta@branchaustinmccormick.com ) who will deal with the matter.
Please make your complaint to us in writing (whether by letter or email), with as much detail regarding the complaint as possible so that we can investigate properly. Please ensure that the letter or email is clearly marked “Complaint”.
Your complaint will be acknowledged, at the latest, within 5 working days of receipt by the relevant person. It will be reviewed initially and if on that review we feel further information is required from you in order to commence our investigation we will advise you as soon as possible.
We will confirm to you that our investigation into your complaint has started and will either respond to you in full, or provide an update on progress, within 10 working days. Some matters will be more complicated, others less and the timescale of investigation will differ in each case. If an investigation takes longer, updates will provided at regular intervals.
WE TAKE ANY COMPLAINT SERIOUSLY AND WILL DEAL WITH IT PROMPTLY. IT IS OUR AIM TO RESOLVE ANY COMPLAINTS AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.
MAKING A COMPLAINT WILL NOT AFFECT HOW WE HANDLE YOUR MATTER.
Once our investigation is concluded we will provide you with a written response to your complaint. You are entitled to respond to our findings if you have any query or are dissatisfied with our response. We will give such response our full consideration and endeavour to resolve the remaining issues.
WHAT DO TO IF WE CANNOT RESOLVE YOUR COMPLAINT.
Whilst we hope that we will have been able to resolve your complaint, if you remain dissatisfied then the Legal Ombudsman 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.
Before accepting a complaint for investigation, the Legal Ombudsman will check that you have tried to resolve your complaint with us first. If you have, then you must take your complaint to the Legal Ombudsman:
- Within six months of receiving a final response to your complaint – and
- No more than six years from the date of act/omission; or
- No more than three years from when you should reasonably have known there was cause for complaint.
Contact details:
Call: 0300 555 0333 between 9am to 5pm.
Legal Ombudsman, PO Box 6167, Slough, SL1 0EH
Email: enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk
Visit: www.legalombudsman.org.uk
The Solicitors Regulation Authority can help you 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.
You can raise your concerns with the Solicitors Regulation Authority. https://sra.org.uk