Complaints Procedure

At Hazelhurst Solicitors, we are committed to providing the highest level of service to all our clients. Your satisfaction is of utmost importance to us, and we value any feedback you may have. If for any reason you feel that our service has not met your expectations, we encourage you to review our Complaints Procedure to understand how we can resolve any concerns efficiently and fairly.

Policy

A complaint may happen when clients sometimes feel unhappy with us and our services. We would identify this and will take every instance of this seriously. Our policy requires that we listen to any queries or concerns that are presented when clients feel unhappy about us or our services.

The firm’s policy is to try and resolve any complaint and it is also an opportunity when this happens for us to improve and deal with the matters of clients to the high standards that we strive to.

Procedure

Complaints are responded to on a two-tier level.

At the first instance the case handler or frontline person would try to resolve the matter, and where this is not resolved, then clients are invited to ask for a copy of our full complaint procedure to enable them to complain further to the Complaint’s Manager. If the matter is not resolved by The Complaints Manager, then the contact details of the Legal Ombudsman - to whom they can address their complaint, will be provided to the clients.

The Legal Ombudsman 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.

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

web: www.legalombudsman.org.uk
Call: 0300 555 0333 between 9.00 to 17.00.
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

The Legal Ombudsman
PO Box 6806,
Wolverhampton WV1 9WJ

If you are unhappy with our behaviour

The Solicitors Regulation Authority can help 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. Visit their website to see how you can raise your concerns with the Solicitors Regulation Authority.

This documented procedure is strictly implemented when dealing with complaints, and ensures that formal complaints are centrally recorded and responded to in writing. It also ensures that the root cause(s) of the complaint is/are identified and corrected.

Any formal, written or serious complaint is recorded on the Complaints Form and filed in the Central Complaints file. Clients who change to alternative Solicitors will be contacted with a view to improving service.

The Complaints Manager is responsible for the review of complaints and for assessing whether they are justified. He/she will respond in writing to the client in order to ensure that corrective action is taken. If the complaint is against the Complaints Manager, the client will be requested to forward their complaints to another senior member of the firm.

If a complaint is considered to be unjustified, a written response will be sent explaining the reasons why no further action will be taken. All complaints are assessed to review the need for longer-term improvement measures. Where necessary, policy and/or procedures will be revised and follow-up action conducted to ensure effectiveness.

All complaints referred to the firm via the Legal Aid Agency will be dealt with in the same manner as complaints received directly from the client. The Firm will review the central complaints file at least annually.

Our contact address for addressing all complaints: