Complaints Procedure

Introduction

If you are dissatisfied with the service we have provided then you have the right to complain. The Legal Ombudsman service has been operational since October 6th, 2010 and is ultimately responsible for ensuring that complaints are dealt with appropriately. However, before you contact the Legal Ombudsman you must first register an official complaint with us. Normally, the Legal Ombudsman expects you to give us 8 weeks to try to resolve the matter. If after 8 weeks you are still dissatisfied you can then involve  the  Legal Ombudsman. For more information on how the Legal Ombudsman works please  visit the Legal Ombudsman website.

Timescales

In normal circumstances you are required to register a complaint with us within one year.  You must then give us 8 weeks to try to resolve your complaint before contacting the Legal Ombudsman. A complaint to the Legal Ombudsman must normally be made within six months of the date of the conclusion of the Firm's complaints procedure. There is also an overall time limit to refer a complaint to the Legal Ombudsman which is either within one year of the problem happening or one year from when you found out about it ( if it took place more than a year ago).

In summary:

• You must register your complaint with us within one year
• The Legal Ombudsman expects you to give us 8 weeks to try to resolve your complaint
• After this time, you can contact the Legal Ombudsman (but you must do so within 6 months)
• You must keep to the overall one year time limit for referrals to the Legal Ombudsman.

Getting Started

To register a formal complaint, please write to us and include all the information suggested by the Legal Ombudsman - their website includes some useful checklists and sample letters. We would suggest that initially you try to resolve the problem with the person dealing with your work.  If you are unable to resolve the problem to your satisfaction you should advise the Office Manager of the office you are dealing with or the fee earner’s supervisor referred to in your client care letter.  If the problem remains unresolved it will be passed to our Client Care Partner, Sarah Adlam, at Camrascan House, Isis Way, Minerva Business Park, Peterborough, PE2 6QR. If your complaint is regarding the Client Care Partner the complaint should be directed to Andrew Davies.

Alternative Complaints Schemes

Alternative complaints bodies exist which are competent to deal with complaints about legal services, and can be used if both you and our firm wish to use such a scheme as an alternative to the Legal Ombudsman. If an approach to such a scheme is agreed, we would usually nominate Pro Mediate, whose details can be found on their website  www.promediate.co.uk .

If you are a client and we have made a contract with you by electronic means you may be entitled to use an EU online dispute resolution service to assist with any contractual dispute you may have with us. This service can be found at   http://ec.europa.eu/odr . Our Client Relations Partner's email address is sarah.adlam@mcp-law.co.uk.

Complaints to the Solicitors Regulation Authority

The Legal Ombudsman deals with unresolved complaints about the service the Firm provides, however should you have concerns about a  member of the Firm’s behaviour eg dishonesty, taking or losing money, unfair treatment because of age, disability, gender or other characteristic then you should raise those concerns with the Solicitors Regulation Authority. To lodge a complaint visit the Solicitors Regulation Authority website.