Complaints Handling Policy

Raising concerns

If you are unhappy about any aspect of the service you have received, or about the bill, please contact our Complaints Partner, Matthew Taylor by email ([email protected]) or by post to Mr Matthew Taylor, THB Sols LLP, Hampton House, 137 Beehive Lane, Great Baddow, Essex CM2 9RX. Making a complaint will not affect how we handle your case.

 What will happen next?

1. We will send you a letter acknowledging receipt of your complaint within five working days of receiving it, enclosing a copy of this procedure.
2. We will investigate your complaint. This will normally involve the Complaints Partner reviewing your matter file and speaking to the member of staff who acted for you.
3. Following an investigation, you will be sent a detailed written reply to your complaint, including the suggestions for resolving the matter. We will endeavour to provide this within 21 days of sending you the acknowledgement letter depending on for example the complexity of the case material.
4. At this stage, if you are still not satisfied, you should contact us again and we will consider any further matters you wish to draw to our attention for our review. In some circumstances we can arrange for another Partner within the firm to review the decision.
5. 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.
6. If you are still not satisfied with our handling of your complaint you can ask the Legal Ombudsman to consider the complaint. We would hope that this does not become necessary and that we can resolve matters between ourselves. Contact details are as follows:

PO Box 6167

Slough

SL1 0EH

0300 555 0333

[email protected]

www.legalombudsman.org.uk

7. The Legal Ombudsman expects complaints to be made to them within 6 months of our final response to your complaint and no more than one year from the date of the act or omission being complained about or no more than one year from the date when you should reasonably have known that there was cause for complaint.
8. If we have to change any of the above timescales we will let you know and explain why.

Alternative dispute resolution

Alternative complaints exist which are competent to deal with complaints about legal services should both you and our firm consent to use such a scheme. In the event that you wish to use an alternative complaint body you should advise us and we will then state if we agree.

Complaints in relation to bills

The procedure above also applies to complaints arising concerning our bill. There may also be a right to object to the bill by applying to the court for an assessment of the bill under Part III of the Solicitors Act 1974; The Legal Ombudsman may not consider a complaint about a bill if you have applied to the Court for assessment of that bill.

Raising concerns with our regulator

The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) can help you 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. You can find information about raising your concerns with the SRA at: www.sra.org.uk/consumers/problems/report-solicitor