Complaints Policy
We are committed to maintaining the highest professional standards and providing a high quality legal service to all our clients. A complaint can show us how to do better .If something goes wrong, we want to know about it and put it right as quickly as we can.
If you want to make a complaint, please contact our complaints partner Mr Gary Lake preferably by post 192 – 193 Queens Road, Hastings, East Sussex. TN34 1RG, or email GLake@funnellperring.co.uk. If the complaint needs to be addressed by someone else, please contact Jackie Eichler Jeichler@funnellperring.co.uk. If you have special needs which we should take into account due to language or disability, please let us know. If you do need to complain, we will deal with it according to our complaints procedure, a copy of which is below.
Introduction
The aim of the formal complaints process is to resolve a problem to the satisfaction of the person making the complaint.
Complaints process timetable
| Action | Timescale |
| In the first instance the complaint should be raised with the Fee Earner directly. | You should receive a response within 3 working days. |
| If you believe it is not possible for the complaint to be handled by them or are still unsatisfied then please raise the complaint with our complaint’s handler, Gary Lake.
This should be done in writing either by Post or Email. Please give as much detail as possible about the complaint. This will allow us to investigate the matter fully. |
You will receive an acknowledgement within 5 working days.
We will set out how long we believe it will take to investigate the matter fully, this can be between 2-4 weeks.
This will include a substantive review of the file and may include speaking to the fee earner and yourself.
|
| Confirm the outcome of the investigation.
If we agree that there has been cause for complaint we will work with you to find a positive outcome.
If we find that there is no cause for complaint we will detail to you our reasoning for this. |
This will form part of the investigation period. |
| Review and close the complaint | Within 8 weeks of receiving the complaint |
If you do not agree with the outcome of our complaints process, you can then complain to the Legal Ombudsman. Complaints to the Legal Ombudsman must usually be made within six months of our final response to your complaint.
The Legal Ombudsman can investigate complaints for up to six years from the date a problem occurred or within three years from when you found out about the problem.
The address is PO Box 6806, Wolverhampton WV1 9WJ, telephone 0300 555 0333 or email enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk
Funnell & Perring is authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA), located at The Cube, 199 Wharfside Street, Birmingham, B1 1RN. This means we adhere to a Code of Conduct and other professional regulations, which can be found on the SRA’s website at www.sra.org.uk or by contacting them at 0370 606 2555. Our SRA registration number is 73292. If you believe we have acted dishonestly, illegally, or in violation of the SRA’s principles, you can file a complaint with the SRA using the contact details above.
If we are unable to resolve your complaint then you can have the complaint independently looked at by the Legal Ombudsman. The Legal Ombudsman investigates complaints about service issues with solicitors.
The Legal Ombudsman expects complaints to be made to them within one year of the date of the act or omission about which you are concerned or within one year of you realising there was a concern. You must also refer your concerns to the Legal Ombudsman within six months of our final response to you.
The Legal Ombudsman’s contact details are: -
Telephone: 0300 555 0333
Minicom: 0300 555 1777
Website: www.legalombudsman.org.uk
Post: Legal Ombudsman, PO Box 6806, Wolverhampton, WV1 9WJ
