Complaints Procedure

We are committed to high quality legal advice and client care.  If you are unhappy about any aspect of the service you have received or about the bill, please raise your concerns in the first instance with the person dealing with your matter. If they cannot resolve the problem to your satisfaction or you would prefer not to speak to them, then please contact the supervisor named in the ‘Client Care’ section of the attached letter or Director/Solicitor/Compliance Officer Stewart Hinds, who is responsible for Professional Standards, on 020 8658 3922, postmaster@pj-h.co.uk or by post to Kelsey House, 77, High Street, Beckenham, Kent BR3 1AN.  

What will happen next?

1. We will send you a letter acknowledging receipt of your complaint within three days of receiving it, enclosing a copy of this procedure.
2. We will then investigate your complaint. This will normally involve passing your complaint to our Solicitor/Client Care Director, Stewart Hinds, who will review your matter file and speak to the member of staff who acted for you.
3. The Client Care Director will then invite you to a meeting to discuss and hopefully resolve your complaint. He will do this within fourteen days of sending you the acknowledgement letter.
4. Within three days of the meeting, the Client Care Director will write to you to confirm what took place and any solutions he has agreed with you.
5. If you do not want a meeting or it is not possible, Stewart Hinds will send you a detailed written reply to your complaint, including his suggestions for resolving the matter, within twenty-one days of sending you the acknowledgement letter.
6. At this stage, if you are still not satisfied, you should contact us again and we will arrange for another director to review the decision.
7. We will write to you within fourteen days of receiving your request for a review, confirming our final position on your complaint and explaining our reasons.
8. If you are still not satisfied, you can then contact the Legal Ombudsman (helpline number 0300 555 0333) about your complaint at:

Legal Ombudsman,

PO Box 6806,

WV1 9WJ

You can ask the Legal Ombudsman to consider the complaint and/or apply to the Court for an assessment of the bill under Part III of the Solicitors Act 1974.  Normally you will need to bring a complaint to the Legal Ombudsman within six months of receiving a final written response from us about your complaint and no more than 6 years from the date of the act or omission you are complaining about, or no more than 3 years from when you should have reasonably known there was cause for complaint. 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.

The Solicitors Regulation Authority can help you if you are concerned about our behaviour and you think we have breached the SRA Principles.