We want to give you the best possible service. However, 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 it may be helpful to contact the person who is working on your case to discuss your concerns and we will do our best to resolve any issues at this stage. If you would like to make a formal complaint, then you can read our full complaints procedure below. Making a complaint will not affect how we handle your case.
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 with the Solicitors Regulation Authority.
What do to if we cannot resolve your complaint
The Legal Ombudsman can help you if we are unable to resolve your complaint ourselves. They 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 one from the date of act/omission; or
- No more than one year 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.
Contact details
Visit: www.legalombudsman.org.uk
Call: 0300 555 0333 between 9am to 5pm.
Email: enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk
Legal Ombudsman PO Box 6806, Wolverhampton, WV1 9WJ
OUR COMPLAINTS PROCEDURE
If you have not already done so, please let us know the full nature of the problem. Ideally, we would prefer that your complaint be confirmed in writing in order that any scope for misunderstanding can be avoided. However, this is not obligatory, and you are welcome to provide the details to us over the telephone or face to face. If you are setting out your concerns in writing then you can do this by emailing christine.fernando@cflaw.uk or writing to us at CF Law, Ashley House, 235-239 High Road, London N22 8HF.
Once we are in receipt of your complaint we will write to you acknowledging your complaint within five working days. In this letter, we shall confirm what happens next.
We will then investigate the matter by reviewing the matter file and speaking to the member of staff concerned within five working days of acknowledging receipt of your complaint. If, for some reason, the matter cannot be investigated in this time frame, then we will write to you notifying you of this together with the reason why and giving a revised timescale. Once the investigation has been completed, we will invite you to a meeting to discuss the issue(s) you have raised and hopefully resolve the complaint. This meeting will take place within fourteen days of sending you the acknowledgement letter. Following the meeting, we will write to you within five working days of the meeting to confirm our discussion and the solution agreed upon.
If you do not want to or are unable to attend such a meeting, we will send you a detailed, written response, including our proposed solution, within fourteen working days of sending you the letter acknowledging receipt of your complaint.
If you are satisfied with our response then that will be the end of the matter. However, if you are not satisfied, you should contact us again and we will arrange for another solicitor to review our decision. They will write to you within fourteen days of receiving your request with confirmation of the firm’s final position in relation to your complaint, outlining the reasons and any final redress that is offered.
We have eight weeks to consider your complaint. If for any reason we are unable to resolve the problem between us within that timeframe, then you may ask the Legal Ombudsman to consider the complaint. The Legal Ombudsman may be contacted at PO Box 6806, Wolverhampton WV1 9WJ. Please be aware that any complaint to the Legal Ombudsman must usually be made within six months of your having received a final written response from us about your complaint. Complaints to the Legal Ombudsman must usually be made within one year of the act or omission about which you are complaining occurring; or within one year from when you should have known about or become aware that there were grounds for complaint. For further information, you should contact the Legal Ombudsman on 0300 555 0333 or visit: www.legalombudsman.org.uk