COMPLAINTS

Our complaints policy

We are committed to providing a high-quality and efficient legal service to all our clients. When something goes wrong, please tell us about it. This will help us to know where our standards have not met client expectations and help us to improve.

Our complaints procedure

 If you have a complaint, please contact Jennifer Melly, our Complaints Partner. You can write to her at 45 Alfred Street, Neath, SA11 1EH. If the complaint concerns Jennifer Melly, please write to Tom Grimes at this office.

If we have to change any of the responsibilities or the timescales set out below, we will let you know and explain why.

What will happen next?

1. Within three days we will send you a letter acknowledging your complaint and asking you to confirm or explain any details. If it seems appropriate we will suggest a meeting at this stage. We will also let you know the name of the person who will be dealing with your
2. We will then record your complaint in our central register and open a file for your complaint. We will also investigate your complaint by examining the relevant
3. If appropriate we will then invite you to meet the Complaints Partner to discuss and hopefully resolve your complaint. We would hope to be in a position to meet with you in this way no longer than 14 days after first receiving your complaint. If you would prefer not to meet, or if we cannot arrange this within an agreeable timescale, we will write fully to you setting out our views on the situation and any redress that we would feel to be appropiate.
4. Within three days of any meeting we will write to you to confirm what took place and any suggestions that we have agreed with you. In appropriate cases we could offer an apology, a reduction of any bill or a repayment in relation to any payment received.
5. At this stage, if you are still not satisfied, please let us know. We will then arrange to review our decision. We would generally aim to do this within 10 days. This will happen in one of the following
   • The Complaints Partner involved will review her decision
   • We will arrange for someone else in the firm who has not been involved in your complaint to review it
   • Jennifer Melly will review your complaint within 10 days
   • We will ask our local law society or another local firm of solicitors to review your complaint. We will let you know how long this process will take
   • We will invite you to agree to independent mediation. We will let you know how long this process will
6. If you are still not satisfied, you can contact:

          Legal Ombudsman, PO Box 6167, Slough SL1 0EH

          Website: www.legalombudsman.org.uk

          Tel: 0300 555 0333,

          Email: enquiries@legalombudsman.co.uk

    To consider the complaint.  Normally, you will need to bring your complaint to the Legal Ombudsman

1. within six months of receiving a final written response from us about your complaint or,
2. no later than 6 years from when the problem (act or omission) occurred or,
3. no later than 3 years from the date you should reasonably have known that there were grounds for complaint. (assuming that the act/omission complained of took place before the 6th of October 2010 or was more than six years ago)

Please Note

For the Legal Ombudsman to deal with your complaint:

1. The act or omission, or when you, the complainant, should reasonably have known there was a cause for complaint must have been after 5th October 2010
2. If your complaint is specifically about our bill, you have the right to object to it and apply for an assessment of it under part III of the Solicitors Act 1974. If you should choose to exercise this right, you may be unable to use the Legal Ombudsman service.”

In the case of a complaint about our charges you can apply to the Court under Part III of the Solicitors Act 1974.

If we have to change any of the timescales above, we will let you know and explain why.