Complaints Procedure
Complaints Procedure
At Lextel Solicitors, we strive to provide the best possible service to our clients. However, if at any point you become unhappy or concerned about the service we have provided, we want to hear from you. We take all complaints seriously and will do our best to resolve any issues as quickly and fairly as possible.
In the first instance, it may be helpful to contact the solicitor who is working on your case to discuss your concerns. We will do our best to resolve any issues at this stage. If you would like to make a formal complaint, please follow the steps outlined in our complaints handling procedure below.Making a complaint will not affect how we handle your case.
Complaints handling procedure
If you have a concern or a complaint, please contact us as soon as you are aware of the problem so this can be addressed.
Branch Office:
5 Station Parade, Hornchurch, RM12 5AB, England
Contact person: Sharif M N Amin or Imran Khan
Telephone: 020 7780 9394
Email: [email protected]
What will happen next?
We will send you a letter acknowledging receipt of your complaint within TEN (10) working days of receiving your concerns, enclosing a copy of this procedure. We will then investigate your complaint. This will normally involve passing your complaint to our Compliance Officer for Legal Practice/ Compliance Officer for Finance and Administration Sharif M N Amin, who will review your matter/file and speak to the member of staff who acted for you. Mr. Amin will then invite you to a meeting to discuss and, it is hoped, resolve your complaint. He will do this within 14 days of sending you the acknowledgement letter. Within seven days of the meeting, Mr. Amin 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, Mr. Amin will send you a detailed written reply to your complaint, including his suggestions for resolving the matter, within 21 working days of sending you the acknowledgement letter. At this stage, if you are still not satisfied, you should contact us again to explain why you remain unhappy with our response and we will review your comments. We will write to you within 14 days of receiving your request for a review, confirming our final position on your complaint and explaining our reasons. If you are still not satisfied, you can then contact the Legal Ombudsman at Legal Ombudsman PO Box 6806, Wolverhampton, WV1 9WJ or call 0300 555 0333 about your complaint. Any complaint to the Legal Ombudsman must usually be made within six months of receiving our final response.
What to do if we cannot resolve your complaint
If we are unable to resolve your complaint, you can contact the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) to raise your concerns. The SRA can help if you are concerned about our behavior, such as dishonesty, taking or losing your money, or treating you unfairly because of your age, a disability or other characteristic.You can contact the SRA at https://www.sra.org.uk/consumers/problems/report-solicitor.page
Alternatively, 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.
You can contact the Legal Ombudsman at:
- Visit: www.legalombudsman.org.uk
- Call: 0300 555 0333 between 9am to 5pm.
- Email: [email protected]
- Legal Ombudsman
- PO Box 6806
- Wolverhampton
- WV1 9WJ