Our Complaints Policy

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 to you then you should inform us immediately so that we can do our best to resolve the problem for you.  In the first instance it may be helpful to contact the lawyer who is working on your case to discuss any concerns and we will do our best to resolve any issues at this stage.

If you are unhappy about any aspect of the service you have received, or about the costs invoice you may have received, please contact us by post to our office at 64 Alum Rock Road, Saltley, Birmingham, B8 1JA by telephone on 0121 327 2105 or email info@klegalsolicitors.co.uk. Rest assured making a complaint will not affect how we handle your case.

If you feel that you would like to make a formal complaint then the complaints procedure that this firm adopts, including time scales is mentioned below.

Our Complaints Procedure

If you have a complaint, contact us with the details immediately.

What will happen next?

• We will send you a letter acknowledging your complaint and asking you to confirm or explain the details set out.  We will also confirm the name of the person who will be dealing with your complaint.  You can expect to receive our letter within 14 days of us receiving your complaint.
• We will record your complaint in our central register and open a separate file for your complaint.  We will do this within 7 days of receiving your complaint.
• We will then start to investigate your complaint. This will normally involve the following steps.
• We will pass your complaint to *Mr M Khan, within 7 days.
• Mr M Khan will ask the member of staff who acted for you to reply to your complaint within 21 days.
• Mr M Khan will then examine their reply and the information in your complaint file. And, if necessary, he may also speak to them.  This will take up to 14 days from receiving their reply and the file.
• Mr M Khan, will then invite you to a meeting at our office, or make arrangements to see you if you are detained in custody, to discuss and hopefully resolve your complaint.  He will do this within 14 days.
• Within 7 days of the meeting, Mr M Khan will write to you to confirm what took place and any solutions he has agreed with you.

If you do not want a meeting, or it is not possible to arrange a meeting, Mr M Khan will send you a detailed reply to your complaint.  This will include his suggestions for resolving the matter.  He will do this within 14 days of completing the investigation.

• At this stage, if you are still not satisfied then you will need to contact us again within 14 days, otherwise this matter will be marked as resolved.  We will then arrange to review our decision.  This will happen in one of the following ways.
• Another Senior Solicitor of the firm will review Mr M Khan decision within 21 days.

Or,

• We will ask another local firm of Solicitors to review your complaint within 21 days.  We will let you know how long this process will take.

Or,

• We will invite you to agree to independent mediation within 21 days.  We will let you know how long this process will take.
• We will let you know the result of the review within 14 days of the end of the review.  At this time, we will write to you confirming our final position on your complaint and explaining our reasons.

What happens if we don’t agree with your views on the complaint?

If we are unable to resolve the complaint with you then you can have the complaint independently looked at by the Legal Ombudsman. The Legal Ombudsman investigates problems about poor service from lawyers.

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

• Six years from the date of act/omission; or
• Three years from when you should reasonably have known there was cause for complaint (only if the act took place more than six years ago).

The act or omission, or when you should have reasonably known there was cause for complaint, must have been after 5 October 2010.

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 8.30am to 5.30pm. For minicom call 0300
555 1777

Calls to 03 numbers will cost no more than calls to national geographic numbers (starting 01or 02) from both mobiles and landlines. Calls are recorded and may be used for training and monitoring purposes.

Email enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk

Legal Ombudsman PO Box 6806, Wolverhampton, WV1 9WJ.

Please note do not send original documents to the Legal Ombudsman. They will scan any documents you send us to make computer copies and then destroy the originals.

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

*     In the event that you have a complaint against Mr M Khan, then the complaint will be addressed by an experienced Senior Solicitor in the firm.

Complaints about your costs invoice

The above complaints procedure also applies to complaints arising concerning costs invoices issued by us. There may also be a right to object to the invoice by applying to the court for an assessment of the bill under Part III of the Solicitors Act 1974; and that if all, or part, of a bill remains unpaid, the firm may be entitled to charge interest.

Raising concerns with our Regulator

The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) 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 find information about raising your concerns with the SRA at www.sra.org.uk in the ‘For the public’ section.

Alternative Dispute Resolution

We are required to inform you that alternative complaints handling bodies (such as Pro Mediate, Brow Farm, Top Road, Frodsham, Cheshire WA6 6SP, 01928 732455, www.promediate.co.uk) exist which are able to deal with complaints about legal services should both you and we wish to use such a scheme. Whilst it is free to use the Legal Ombudsman service, there is a fee for using an alternative complaints handling body. Given the cost and the fact that mediation is not binding on you or us we see no benefit in this and it will be unusual for us to agree to a reference to such a body.