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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.

Our complaints procedure

If you have a complaint, please contact us with the details. You can reach us by email on complaints@gdlegalservices.co.uk, or in writing, by telephone or in person at our office. 

What will happen next?

We will send you a letter acknowledging receipt of your complaint within three working days of us receiving the complaint, enclosing a copy of this procedure.

We will then investigate your complaint. This will normally involve passing your complaint to our Client Care Manager, who will review your file and speak to the member of staff who acted for you.

Within 21 working days of sending the acknowledgement letter, we will send you a detailed written reply to your complaint.

If you are still not satisfied, you should contact us again and we will arrange for a meeting to discuss and hopefully resolve your complaint. We will do this within 14 working days of you contacting us.

Within five working days of the meeting, we will write to you either to confirm any solutions we have agreed with you or to confirm our final position on your complaint and explaining our reasons.

Contacting the Legal Ombudsman

Contacting the Legal Ombudsman

If your complaint has not been resolved within 8 weeks or you are still not satisfied, you can contact the Legal Ombudsman at PO Box 6806, Wolverhampton, WV1 9WJ about your complaint. Any complaint to the Legal Ombudsman must be made within six months of our final response. The complaint must also be made (a) one year from the date of the act or omission being complained about; or; (b) one year from the date when the complainant should have realised that there was cause for complaint. There are also limits on who can complain, for example the scheme does not cover most businesses (unless they are defined as micro enterprises, charities or clubs with an annual income of less than £1m, or trustees of trust with asset value of less than £1m). For further information, you should contact the Legal Ombudsman on 0300 555 0333 or enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk or legalombudsman.org.uk

Contacting the SRA

If you consider that we have breached a regulatory obligation, you may refer the matter directly to the SRA here: https://www.sra.org.uk/consumers/problems/report-solicitor/.

The postal address is Solicitors Regulation Authority The Cube 199 Wharfside Street Birmingham B1 1RN. You may also telephone them on 0370 606 2555 or email them at report@sra.org.uk.

Complaints about our fees

If you have a complaint about our fees you may have the right to apply to the court for assessment of the bill (under Part III of the Solicitors Act 1974) although you may have to pay interest if all or part of the bill remains unpaid.

Alternative complaints bodies

Alternative complaints bodies such as Ombudsman Services (www.ombudsman-services.org), ProMediate (www.promediate.co.uk) and Small Claims Mediation (www.small-claims-mediation.co.uk) exist which are competent to deal with complaints about legal services should both you and our firm wish to use such a scheme. Some of these schemes charge for their services. We may agree to use such an alternative scheme and will consider each case individually.

Online Dispute Resolution

The ODR platform is an interactive website (webgate.ec.europa.eu) offering a single point of entry to consumers and traders seeking to resolve disputes. It is intended to facilitate the independent, impartial, transparent, effective, fast and fair out-of-court resolution of disputes between consumers and online traders.

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