Complaints Policy

COMPLAINTS POLICY

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. If you would like to make a formal complaint, then you can forward this to us for the attention of the Managing Director.

How to contact us

Rowan Rose Solicitors

City Point, 701 Chester Road

Stretford, Manchester

M32 0RW

Email:  contact@rowanrose.co.uk

Telephone:  0161 505 0150

How will you deal with my complaint?

We will record your complaint centrally and write to you within two working days acknowledging your complaint. There is no charge for making a complaint or for the time we spend investigating it.

You may complain to us by telephone or email if you do not find it easy, for whatever reason, to do so in writing, although writing provides better evidence of your complaint.

The complaint will be investigated by the Managing Director, unless it personally concerns them, in which case it will be referred to an independent third party to ensure impartiality.

Investigation will usually involve:

• reviewing your file or files and other relevant documents; and
• speaking with the person who dealt with your matter, and with other members of staff or third parties where relevant to the nature of the complaint.

We may also need to ask you for further information or documents. If so, we will agree a reasonable period with you for providing it.

We may also, if appropriate, invite you to a meeting to discuss your complaint. You do not have to attend if you do not wish to, or if you are unable to. We will be happy to discuss the matter with you on the telephone.

We will write to you at the end of our investigation to tell you what we have done and what we propose to do to resolve your complaint. Where possible, we will aim to do this within 21 days of the date of our letter of acknowledgement.

Under the rules of the Legal Ombudsman, we have a period of 8 weeks to resolve your complaint.

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 can take your complaint to the Legal Ombudsman.

You must ordinarily do so within 6 months of our final written response. If we have not resolved your complaint within eight weeks, you can refer it to the Legal Ombudsman without waiting any longer for our response.

You must also bring your complaint before the Legal Ombudsman within one year of the act or omission you are complaining about, or within one year of the date on which you were aware, or should reasonably have been aware, that you had cause to complain.

Contacting the Legal Ombudsman

Website:  www.legalombudsman.org.uk

Telephone:  0300 555 0333, between 9.00 and 17.00

Email:  enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk

Post:  Legal Ombudsman, PO Box 6806, Wolverhampton, WV1 9WJ

If you would like more information about the Legal Ombudsman, please contact them.

Alternative dispute resolution

Alternative complaints bodies exist which are competent to deal with complaints about legal services, where both the client and the firm agree to use such a scheme.

ProMediate www.promediate.co.uk is an approved alternative dispute resolution provider whose scheme covers complaints about legal services. Rowan Rose Solicitors does not agree to use ProMediate.

This does not affect your right to refer your complaint to the Legal Ombudsman, as set out above.

The Solicitors Regulation Authority

The Solicitors Regulation Authority can help if you are concerned about our behaviour. This could be things like dishonesty, taking or losing your money, or treating you unfairly because of your age, a disability or other characteristic.

Please visit www.sra.org.uk to see how you can raise concerns with the Solicitors Regulation Authority.