Complaints

Complaints

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. Making a complaint will not affect how we handle your case.

Service Quality / Complaints

If any difficulty or unhappiness should arise relating to any aspect of the matter or about our bill you should in the first instance raise this with the person who is stated to have responsibility for the matter in our client care letter. If that person fails to resolve matters in a satisfactory manner, then you should write to us and address your comments to Mr Mudassar Iqbal (email: mudassar@dawnsolicitors.com) who thereafter will respond to your concerns.

A copy of our formal complaint’s procedure will be made available to you on request. If you are not satisfied with the outcome of our complaints procedure you may refer your concerns to the Legal Ombudsman at PO Box 6806, Wolverhampton WV1 9WJ. enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk The Legal Ombudsman’s time limits for accepting a complaint are six years from the date of act\omission or three years from when the complainant should have known about the complaint. Where you have been provided with full information about your right to take a complaint to the Legal Ombudsman (as is the case here) you must make your complaint to the Ombudsman within six months from the end of our complaints process. We will inform you when our internal complaints process has been concluded.

What to do 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 six years from the date of act/omission; or

No more than three years 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 9.00 to 17.00.

Email: enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk

Legal Ombudsman PO Box 6806, Wolverhampton, WV1 9WJ

What to do if you are unhappy with our behaviour

The Solicitors Regulation Authority can help 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.

Visit their website to see how you can raise your concerns with the Solicitors Regulation Authority.

For further help or information

Dawn Solicitors’ Entrnal Complaints Procedure

We define a complaint as any reasonable expression of client dissatisfaction or grievance.

 

Complaints will be identified by the member of staff who first comes in to contact with the complaint or expression of dissatisfaction or grievance however it is expressed. If it is in written form, this is likely to be the person who opens the post or reads the fax; if in electronic form, the person who opens the email and if verbal or via the telephone, the person to whom the client is speaking. The following applies to all complaints received by the firm:

  • They will be recorded in a central file
  • They will be acknowledged and the client notified of when they will receive a substantive response which should be within two weeks of when the complaint was first received.
  • The complainant will be informed of the person to whom they should take matters if they remain dissatisfied at any stage.
  • Options for redress and for correcting any underlying problem or unsatisfactory procedures will be provided.
 
As soon as a complaint is received, it will be brought to the attention of the complaint manager who will carry out the following steps:
  • Identify the cause of the complaint and the reason for the grievance
  • Discuss the case and the complaint with the relevant fee earner
  • If not already in writing, try to obtain a detailed written version of the complaint from the complainant.
  • Determine if the complaint has merit
  • Decide what action needs to be taken to prevent the complaint happening again
  • Decide what action needs to be taken to satisfy the complainant.
 
The complaint manager will be the person with overall responsibility for complaints and another person of director level will be responsible for dealing with complaints made about the complaint manager using the above procedure.

 

Even though a complaint is any expression of client dissatisfaction however it is expressed. Some degree of common sense is needed in the application of the complaints handling procedure. If a client says ‘you solicitors charge a lot for what you do’ it would not usually be sufficient to amount to a complaint. If, however, the client claims that a quote or agreed costs ceiling has been exceeded without notice to them it almost certainly will be. If, on checking the file, the fee earner is able to advise the client that a letter that the client had overlooked had been written to warn that the costs would be greater than previously discussed, the problem would probably have been dealt with and there would be no need to report the complaint as such. In all cases, however, it is necessary to take a view on how the client is reacting to the particular circumstances. The firm’s overriding objective is to address client dissatisfaction

As required by our complaints policy, the complaints manager will consider any complaint received in as objective a manner as possible and seek to resolve the dissatisfaction. In particular he/she will offer to meet with the complainant when possible and suggest appropriate redress. In so doing they will also consider if a notification need to be made to the insurers and also consider if any aspect of the quality system needs amendment.

Reporting a complaint

If it is necessary to report a complaint, client will be provided a complaints report form (Document template folder ) forward the completed form to the complaints manager. If there is any chance that the complaint could amount to circumstances that shall be reported to the firm’s insurers to stay on the side of safety by reporting it as such.

 

As required by our complaints policy, the complaints manager will consider any complaint received in as objective a manner as possible and seek to resolve the dissatisfaction. In particular they will offer to meet with the complainant when possible and suggest appropriate redress. In so doing they will also consider if a notification needs to be made to the insurers and also consider if any aspect of the quality system needs amendment.

Complaints referred by the Legal Ombudsman

It is possible that a client may complain direct to the Legal Ombudsman (formerly the Legal Complaints Service, before that the Consumer Complaints Service, and before that the Office for the Supervision of Solicitors) without first following the procedures given in the previous paragraphs. In such circumstances the Legal Ombudsman will immediately refer the complaint to the complaints manager who is the designated liaison director. The normal complaints procedures will then be followed.

Complaints review

The complaints manager will maintain records of all complaints received and action taken on them. The complaints manager is also responsible for conducting a review of all complaint’s records at least once a year to enable him/her to report to the firm on any trends. This will form part of an annual management review which is considered by the directors and reported to all staff. It is essential that all personnel learn from their experience and address any underlying problems. In this way the firm can use its complaints data to help to prevent future difficulties.