Complaints Procedure

Purpose

Our aim is to ensure that we offer the best possible service to all our clients and when our service has fallen below the standard you expect of us, we would like to hear about it.  

If at any point you become unhappy or concerned about the service, we have provided then you should inform us immediately, so that we can do our best to resolve the problem.  

In the first instance you should contact the person who is working on your case or their supervisor to discuss your concerns. They will deal with your complaint in line with our internal complaint’s procedure.   

If you have concerns about making a complaint directly to the person who is working on your case, or you have special needs or requirements, which need accommodating to make our complaints process accessible, you may contact us on the contact details below. 

• Addressee: Compliance Officer Legal Practice 

• Post: Pinnacle Building, 2 Prospect Place, Pride Park, Derby, DE24 8HG 

• Email: compliance@flintbishop.co.uk 

• Telephone: 01332 340 211 

We will always encourage people making their complaint to put it in writing. However, this isn’t a requirement, and we will investigate complaints where the complaint has been made in person or over the phone.  

What you can expect from us:

• We will acknowledge receipt of your complaint within 5 days of receiving it and explain how we will deal with your complaint. 

• The next step will be to investigate your complaint. This will usually involve reviewing relevant files, information and systems, and speaking to the person who acted for you. It may also involve a discussion and/or meeting with you. If this is considered appropriate, we will advise you accordingly. 

• We will respond to your complaint promptly with the outcome of our investigations and any decision or proposed action. This will be within 28 days of sending the written acknowledgement. 

• If we need to adjust any of these timescales, we will notify you accordingly. 

We hope to be able to resolve all complaints internally as swiftly as possible. 

What to do if we cannot resolve your complaint

If we are unable to resolve your complaint you may be able to ask the Legal Ombudsman to consider the complaint or an alternative complaints body, such as ProMediate (www.promediate.co.uk). We believe that the Legal Ombudsman’s scheme is the most suitable for legal complaints and they would be our suggestion if we were unable to resolve your complaint. 

The Legal Ombudsman will independently review your complaint, 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.  

The Legal Ombudsman expects complaints to be made to them within one year of the date of the act or omission about which you are concerned or within one year of you realising there was a concern. You must also refer your concerns to the Legal Ombudsman within six months of our final response to you. 

The Ombudsman will not accept complaints where the act, omission or date of awareness was before 6 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. 

The Legal Ombudsman’s contact details are: 

• Telephone: 0300 555 0333  

• Minicom: 0300 555 1777 

• Website: www.legalombudsman.org.uk 

• Post: Legal Ombudsman, PO Box 6167, Slough, SL1 0EH 

The Solicitors Regulation Authority can help you 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. You can raise your concerns directly with the Solicitors Regulation Authority. 

Non-client complaints

We will consider complaints from non-clients where the complaint meets one of the following circumstances:  

• You are a beneficiary and there are concerns regarding the service provided to someone who has now died.  

• The complaint relates to services we are providing or have provided to an estate. 

• The complaint relates to a service which we provided, offered, or refused to provide, to the complainant. 

• The complainant has received the benefit of a service from us, even if they did not directly instruct us or pay our fees. 

• Where there are concerns regarding our conduct and compliance with our regulatory obligations, which includes allegations of dishonesty, discrimination, offensive or misleading communications, disregard of professional standards, and taking unfair advantage of others. 

Customer complaints

We have a separate procedure for handling complaints received from our client’s customers when there are concerns relating to the following services:   

• Debt collection   

• Administration of rights under a mortgage contract   

• Debt administration    

• Insurance distribution activity 

Please refer to the Customer Complaints Procedure for further information.