Kundert Solicitors LLP Complaints Procedure

Complaints Policy

  1. We are committed to providing a quality service to all our clients. This is reinforced by the fact that the firm holds the Quality Mark Standard from the Legal Aid Agency in family work.
  2. We know that however careful we are in dealing with matters things can go wrong.  We recognise this and take complaints whether from clients, other professionals or third parties extremely seriously.
  3. It is only by dealing with complaints promptly, systematically and efficiently that we can hope to maintain quality standards.  There will be no charge to you for dealing with your complaint.

The Procedure

  1. If you have a complaint please contact our Complaints Handler, Andrea Ward at 4 The Quadrant, Coventry, CV1 2EL, telephone no. 024 7622 7741, fax no. 024 7625 1417 or email andrea@kundert.co.uk. If that changes we will let you know.
  2. The complaint will be acknowledged in writing within 48 hours.  The acknowledgement will tell you who is dealing with the complaint and send you a copy of this procedure.
  3. The complaint will be investigated by the Complaints Handler or by a Partner nominated by her.  The file will be examined and the Fee Earner dealing with the file will be asked for an explanation of the circumstances giving rise to the complaint.
  4. We will, as part of our investigation into your complaint, invite you to attend a meeting with us in an attempt to resolve the complaint.
  5. Within 3 days of any meeting we will write to you to confirm what took place and any solutions agreed.
  6. If you do not want a meeting or it is not practical for you to attend a meeting, we will send you a detailed written reply to your complaint including any suggestions to resolve the matter within 21 days of the acknowledgement.
  7. If you are still not satisfied you should contact us again and we will arrange for another Partner, or someone unconnected with the matter, or the firm to review our original decision.
  8. We will write to you within 14 days of receiving a request for review confirming our position on your complaint and explaining our reasons for doing so.
  9. Complaining to the Legal Ombudsman – if your complaint has not been resolved to your satisfaction within 8 weeks of making the complaint, you may be able to complain to the Legal Ombudsman. [However, the Ombudsman’s powers are limited in certain respects as they can only accept complaints from individuals and certain small businesses and organisations.]  Full details of the kinds of complaints which the Ombudsman will accept can be found on their website at http://www.legalombudsman.org.uk/.  Their address and contact details are PO Box 6806, Wolverhampton, WV1 9WJ, telephone no. 0300 555 0333, email enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk.
  10. You may alternatively contact the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) if you have concerns as to whether we have breached any of their professional rules for solicitors. These will be found at www.sra.org.uk/solicitors/standards-regulations/principles and the SRA can be contacted at The Cube, 199 Wharfside Street, Birmingham B1 1RN, or by email to  contactcentre@sra.org.uk.

Please note that you can usually only contact the Ombudsman within 6 months of receiving a final written response from us about your complaint.  Complaints must be made within 6 years from the date of the act/omission or 3 years from when you should have known about the complaint.  The Ombudsman will not accept complaints where the act/omission/date of awareness was before 6th October 2010.  You should also note that the Ombudsman may not consider a complaint about a bill if you have applied to the court for it to be assessed.

PLEASE NOTE:

Changes to the above time-scales may take place from time to time.

We will notify you of these together with any explanation of the change.

In addition to our complaint procedure:

We cooperate with the SRA, other regulators, ombudsmen, and those bodies with a role overseeing and supervising the delivery of, or investigating concerns in relation to, legal services.

We respond promptly to the SRA and:

provide full and accurate explanations, information and documents in response to any request or requirement; and

ensure that relevant information which is held by you, or by third parties carrying out functions on your behalf which are critical to the delivery of your legal services, is available for inspection by the SRA.

 

The expression ‘Partner’ means a member of Kundert Solicitors LLP (Registered No. OC352668).