Complaints Policy

Our complaints policy

 

We are committed to providing a high quality legal service to all our clients. When something goes wrong, we need you to tell us about it. This will help us to improve our standards.

 

 

What is a complaint?

 

We define a complaint as an expression of dissatisfaction (oral or written) which alleges that the complainant has suffered (or may suffer): 

 

·         financial loss; 

·         distress; 

·         inconvenience; or

·         other detriment

 

 

Our complaints procedure

 

If you have a complaint about our service or a bill that we have rendered on or both, please contact us with the details.

We will handle your complaint promptly and fairly, free of charge.

 

The person to contact is Mark Stewart, he can be reached at:

 

·         Stewart Begum Solicitors, Beyond, Aldgate Towers, Fifth Floor, 2 Leman Street, London, E1 8FA

 

What will happen next?

 

1.      We aim to provide you with a substantive written response within 8 weeks of receiving your complaint. As a first step, we will send you a letter acknowledging receipt of your complaint within 10 days of us receiving it, enclosing a copy of this procedure or setting out its detail.

 

2.      We will then investigate your complaint. This will normally involve passing your complaint to Mark Stewart who will review your file and speak to the member of staff who acted for you (if the complaint relates to Mark Stewart then Shofna Begum will investigate).

 

3.      Mark Stewart (or Shofna Begum where the complaint relates to Mark Stewart) may invite you to a meeting to discuss and hopefully resolve your complaint. This will be done within 14 days of sending you the acknowledgement letter.

 

4.      Within 28 days of the meeting, Mark Stewart (or Shofna Begum where the complaint relates to Mark Stewart) will write to you to confirm what took place and any solutions agreed with you.

 

5.      If you do not want a meeting or it is not appropriate or practical, Mark Stewart (or Shofna Begum where the complaint relates to Mark Stewart) will send you a detailed written reply to your complaint (an ‘initial response’), including any suggestions for resolving the matter, within 8 weeks of receiving your complaint.

 

6.      At this stage, you will be invited to make any additional comments or add anything further within 21 days of the initial letter. If you confirm that you are satisfied with the reply (and any proposed remedy), then this will conclude the complaint process.

 

7.      Where you remain unsatisfied, any comments you make will be taken into account and the initial response will be reconsidered in the light of your comments. Where appropriate, changes will be made to the initial response and this will become our ‘final response’. Our final response will be sent to you within 14 days of receiving your additional comments.

 

8.      Where you do not provide any additional comments within 21 days of our initial letter, then our initial letter will become our final response. Where this happens we will write to you confirming the same.

 

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

 

10.  If you are still not satisfied, you can then contact the Legal Ombudsman at:

 

PO Box 6167

Slough

SL1 0EH

Tel: 0300 555 0333 or 0121 245 3050

Email: enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk

Web: www.legalombudsman.org.uk

 

There are time limits within which complaints must be made to the Legal Ombudsman, as indicated below:

 

 

·         You are referring your complaint to the Legal Ombudsman within either of the following:

 

o   one year of the problem happening or 

 

o   one year from the date you should reasonably have known about a ground for complaint; and

 

·         You are referring your complaint within six months of our final response.

 

Normally, your complaint needs to fall inside the above time limits for the Ombudsman to investigate it but even if you are outside of this time you should check with the Ombudsman directly as there may be circumstances where the Ombudsman considers it fair and reasonable to extend these time limits.

If our complaints procedure has been exhausted and we cannot resolve the complaint, we will tell you this in writing and provide the name and website of a competent approved alternative dispute resolution (ADR) body, together with confirmation whether we agree to use its scheme.

When we issue a final written response, we will explain prominently that you may refer an unresolved complaint to the Legal Ombudsman, provide its full contact details, and state that a referral should ordinarily be made within six months of the final written response.

 

If you have concerns about our conduct or behaviour, or if you feel we have otherwise breached the SRA Principles (available at the SRA website - www.sra.org.uk), you may complain to the SRA. You may do so by visiting the SRA website, completing their report form, and sending to report@sra.org.uk or: Report, The Cube, 199 Wharfside Street, Birmingham, B1 1RN.