COMPLAINTS PROCEDURE OF
NICHOLLS SOLICITORS, 228a STOCKPORT ROAD, TIMPERLEY, CHESHIRE, WA15 7UN
Telephone 0161 980 6099 / Fax 0161 980 7728
E-mail: [email protected]
[Please note working days are Monday to Friday excluding Bank and Statutory Holidays – not including Saturday & Sunday]
Our Complaints Policy
We define a complaint as being ‘a statement or expression of dissatisfaction’ in relation to the service that a client has received or is receiving from us which alleges that they have or may suffer detriment as a result.
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.
Please note we make no charge whatsoever for investigating your Complaint.
Please also note we are required to investigate your complaint and we will do our best to resolve it.
Our Complaints Procedure
If you have a complaint, please contact us with the details as soon as possible.
When we receive a complaint, what will happen next?
- We will send you a written acknowledgement of your complaint and ask you to confirm or explain the details of it if you have not already made it clear what the complaint is or if we need to clarify anything. At this time we will also let you know the name of the person who will be dealing with your complaint.You can expect to receive our letter within five working days of us receiving your complaint.
- We will record your complaint in our central register and open a separate file for your complaint.We will do this within five working days of receiving your complaint.
- We will then start to investigate your complaint. This will normally involve the following steps.
- We will notify Sarah Birdsey or Patrick Nicholls, our Directors of your complaint; these are our complaint handlers, within five working days.
- If the person you make the complaint about is not the complaint handler, the complaint handler will ask the member of staff who you are complaining about for your file of papers and their response to your complaint.
- Within 20 working days of us having been notified of your complaint, the complaint handler will then respond to you in writing with notification of the result, and their decision in response to your complaint. This may include their suggestions for resolving the matter.
- If you are not satisfied with the complaint handler’s decision he or she will then invite you to a meeting and discuss and hopefully resolve your complaint. This will be done within 10 working days of you notifying the complaint handler you are not satisfied with their decision as set out in 3.3 above.
- Within 10 working days of the meeting the complaint handler will write to you to confirm what took place and any solutions he has agreed with you. The complaint handler will do this within five days or completing the investigation.
- At this stage, if you are still not satisfied you should please contact us again.We will then arrange to review our decision. This will happen by another Director of the Firm investigating your complaint by considering all the details of it and reviewing the decision of the person who dealt with it as set out above. This Director, the second complaint handler will then respond to you in writing with notification of the result, and their decision in response to your complaint. This may include their suggestions for resolving the matter. This will happen within 10 working days of you notifying us that you are not satisfied with the decision of the first claims handler.
Note: If we have to change any of the timescales or procedures as set out above, we will let you know and explain why.
- If you are still not satisfied, you can contact the Legal Ombudsman, PO Box 6806, Wolverhampton WV1 9WJ telephone number 0300 555 0333, e-mail [email protected] about your complaint under the following circumstances. There is a time limit for referring a complaint to the Legal Ombudsman, which cannot be later than one year from the date:
- of the date of act/omission complained of; or
- from when the complainant should have realised that there was cause for complaint
The Ombudsman will have discretion to accept ‘out-of-time’ complaints in circumstances deemed to be ‘fair and reasonable to do so’.
Further information (including an explanation of time limits) may be obtained by you from the Legal Ombudsman (details above).
Please note that only copies of documents should be sent to the Legal Ombudsman’s Office to avoid the original documentation being lost or destroyed).
If you have any complaint about insurance matters you have a right to complain to the Financial Ombudsman Service, although the complaint should be made (as above) to us first. The Financial Ombudsman Service can be contacted 0300 1239123 or by e-mail to [email protected]
