Belcher Addison – Complaints Procedure

We aim to provide a high-quality service for our clients but if a problem does arise or if you are unhappy about our service or what you have been charged, we want to hear about it.

If you believe that we have done something wrong, have concerns with the way we are dealing with you or are unhappy with an invoice you have received, please do tell us. The sooner you tell us, the sooner we can take steps to put matters right.

Our Complaints Procedure

If you have a complaint, please initially raise it in writing with the person dealing with your matter but if this does not resolve the problem please contact their supervisor whose name is given in the letter and Terms of Business sent to you when we agreed to act for you. 

If at this stage the problem is not resolved, please write to Walter Cha, our director with responsibility for complaints, with the details of your complaint. He may be contacted via email at wcha@belcheraddison.co.uk or by post to 3 West Street, Emsworth, Hampshire, PO10 7DX or by telephone to 01243 377231. Please note that if you telephone, we may ask you to put your concerns in writing so that we fully understand your position.

What will happen next?

We will send you a letter acknowledging your complaint and, if necessary, asking you to confirm or explain any further details. You can expect to receive her letter within three working days of receipt of the complaint.

We may discuss with you at the outset the possibility of resolving the problem without following the formal complaints procedure. If matters can be resolved on this basis, the agreed action will be taken, and he will either telephone or email you to confirm the action that has been taken. In agreeing to this more informal resolution, you are not agreeing that you will not pursue the complaint on a more formal basis, but we would hope that the matter can remedied more quickly because of this action being taken.

If the matter is not resolved on an informal basis, the following steps will be taken:

1. Your complaint will be recorded in our central register and a separate file will be opened for your complaint.
2. Your complaint will be investigated by a review of your file and if necessary, speaking to the person concerned.
3. We will write to you with suggested options for resolving your complaint within fourteen working days of the acknowledgement letter. Alternatively, we may suggest a meeting with you to discuss your complaints and the ways in which they can best be answered or resolved. If you particularly would like to have a meeting, then please raise this during this period.
4. If a meeting is arranged, we will give you ample notice of the meeting and where it will take place. You may also bring a friend/representative with you to attend that meeting.
5. During the meeting we will put forward suggestions to resolve the complaints or alternatively ask for time to consider anything you have said and steps that we consider appropriate to resolve the issues. We will write to you within five working days of any meeting to confirm what took place and set out any suggestions we have either agreed with you or have subsequently decided to put forward.
6. If there is no meeting we will write to you with the conclusion of our investigations and any suggestions that we have as to how any complaint may be resolved or remedied.
7. If you are not satisfied with our conclusions/suggestions, please let us know within ten working days of the date on which we wrote to you. You should let us know in what ways you are dissatisfied with what we have stated/suggested.  We will then review the position in light of what you state.  This review will be carried out by one of the other directors of Belcher Addison.  We will notify you of the result of the review within ten working days of the date on which you send to us your letter requesting the review.  We would very much hope that your complaint will have been satisfactorily resolved by this stage.  If it has not, then we may suggest that the services of the local Law Society are used if it provides a conciliation service.

If you are not satisfied with the outcome of our complaints process

If you remain dissatisfied with our handling of your problem you may ask the Legal Ombudsman to consider your complaint. 

The Legal Ombudsman is an independent complaints body that deals with legal services complaints.

The time limits for the Legal Ombudsman accepting a complaint are:

• Within six months of receiving a final response to your complaint.

and

• 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 have realised that there was cause for complain.

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

Visit www.legalombudsman.org.uk

Call 0300 555 0333 between 8.30am to 5pm.

NGT Lite: 18001 0300 555 0333

Minicom text phone user: 18002 0300 555 0333

Email enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk

Legal Ombudsman PO BOX 6167, Slough, SL1 0EH

If your complaint is about our bill you have the right to object by way of our complaints procedure.  You may also have the right to make a complaint to the Legal Ombudsman and/or to apply to the Court for an assessment of the bill under Part III of the Solicitors Act 1974 but please note that we may be entitled to claim interest if all or part of a bill is unpaid.

The Solicitors Regulation Authority can help you if you are concerned about our behavior.  If you feel that we may have been dishonest or treated you unfairly because of your age, disability or other characteristic then please see its website: http://sra.org.uk/consumers/problems/report-solicitor-page.