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What happens if you want to make a complaint ?

This Complaints Handling Procedure tells you how we will deal with your complaint and how long it is likely to take. It also provides important information about what you can do if you are not happy with the way in which we are dealing with your complaint, or about our final decision. Our Complaints Policy contains further information about what you can expect from us when you make a complaint.

Designated Complaints Handler

If you have any concerns about our service, our work, or our charges, you should discuss these first with the solicitor or fee earner who has day-to-day control of your matter.

If this person cannot satisfactorily address your concerns and you wish to make a complaint, please contact our Designated Complaints Handler, Sarah Regan.

You can write to her at 13 – 19 Wells Street, Scunthorpe, North Lincolnshire. DN15 6HN;  or

send an email to sarahregan@lawlincs.co.uk.

Step One: Acknowledging your Complaint

Within five working days of receiving your complaint, your complaint will be recorded in our Complaints Register and a separate file will be opened in which we will store any correspondence and other documents relating to your complaint. Within five working days we will also send you a letter acknowledging your complaint.

Step Two: Investigating your Complaint

Within ten working days of receiving your complaint or as soon as is practicable, we will review your file(s) and any other relevant documentation and send you a letter telling you how we propose to deal with your complaint. Examples of what we might say in this letter are as follows:

  • If your complaint is straightforward we might make suggestions as to how we can put things right or we may offer you some form of redress;
  • If your complaint is more complicated we might ask you to confirm, explain or clarify any issues;
  • We may ask to meet with you to discuss things face-to-face and we would hope to be in a position to meet with you no longer than fourteen working 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 to you fully setting out our views on the situation and making suggestions as to how we can put things right, or asking you to confirm, explain or clarify any issues. Within three working days of any meeting, we will write to you again to confirm what took place and to confirm any offer of redress that we have made.

Whichever form our investigation takes, we will aim to give you our final decision within six weeks of receiving your complaint (or sooner if possible).

Step Three: Appealing against our Final Decision

If you are not satisfied with our final decision, please let us know and we will review our decision again. We will let you know the result of any appeal or if further time is needed to consider matters within ten working days of receiving your appeal.

Step Four: The Legal Ombudsman

If you are still not satisfied, you can then contact the Legal Ombudsman about your complaint.

Ordinarily, you cannot use the Legal Ombudsman unless you have first attempted to resolve your complaint using our internal Complaints Handling procedure, but you will be able to contact the Legal Ombudsman if:

  • The complaint has not been resolved to your satisfaction within eight weeks of first making the compliant to us; or
  • The Legal Ombudsman decides that there are exceptional reasons why the Legal Ombudsman should consider your complaint sooner, or without you having to use our internal Complaints Handling Procedure first; or
  • The Legal Ombudsman considers that your complaint cannot be resolved using our internal Complaints Handling Procedure because the relationship between you and us has broken down irretrievably.

If you wish to make a complaint to the Legal Ombudsman you must be one of the following:

  • An individual;
  • A micro-enterprise as defined in European Recommendation 2003/361/EC of 6 May 2003 (broadly, an enterprise with fewer than 10 staff and a turnover or balance sheet value not exceeding €2 million);
  • A charity with an annual income less than £1 million;
  • A club, association or society with an annual income less than £1 million;
  • A trustee of a trust with a net asset value less than £1 million; or
  • A personal representative or the residuary beneficiaries of an estate where a person with a complaint died before referring it to the Legal Ombudsman.

If you are not, you should be aware that you can only obtain redress by using our Complaints Handling Procedure or by mediation or arbitration, or by taking action through the Courts.

TIME LIMITS FOR MAKING A COMPLAINT TO THE LEGAL OMBUDSMAN

From the 1 April 2023 the Legal Ombudsman expects complaints to be made to them within a year of the date of the act or omission about which you are concerned or within a 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.

Legal Ombudsman Contact Details

PO Box 6167, Slough, SL1 0EH
Call Mason Baggott and Garto0300 555 0333
Message Mason Baggott and Gartonenquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk
Message Mason Baggott and Garton www.legalombudsman.org.uk

Reports to the Solicitors Regulation Authority

Mason Baggott & Garton is regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) and must work within the Principles set down by them. A copy of the Principles and Code of Conduct for Regulated Bodies can be accessed on the SRA’s website www.sra.org.uk. If your complaint is about a breach of the Principles and/or the Code of Conduct they will investigate such matters.

The SRA does not investigate cases where the complaint is about the service provided to clients. They do not have authority to award compensation or reduce legal fees. They will refer those matters to the Legal Ombudsman.

If we identify a breach of the Principles on your matter, in some circumstances, we will be required to report this to the SRA ourselves. If that happens you will be notified when the report is made and of the contents.

SRA Contact Details

The Cube, 199 Wharfside Street, Birmingham, B1 1RN
Call Mason Baggott and Garto0370 6062555
Message Mason Baggott and Gartoncontactcentre@sra.org.uk
Message Mason Baggott and Garton www.sra.org.uk

Further Information

From this site

None available

From other sites

Legal Ombudsman
Solicitors Regulation Authority