Complaints Policy

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MDJ Law – Complaints Information

 

An authorised body, must publish on its website details of its complaints handling procedure including, details about how and when a complaint can be made to the Legal Ombudsman and to the SRA.

Our complaints handling procedure details

• how and when a complaint can be made to the Legal Ombudsman
• how and when a complaint can be made to the SRA.
• the rules require us to publish information on our website.

 

 

Complaints Handling Procedures

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 at this stage.

If you would like to make a formal complaint, then you can read our full complaints procedure (see below).  Making a complaint will not affect how we handle your case.

 

Complaints Procedures

 

How do I make a complaint?

 

In the first instances, you should raise your complaint in writing or by speaking to the person you have been dealing with.

If you do not feel that is possible or you have tried that and are not satisfied with the outcome, you should then raise your concern with one of the partners, Mark Morgan or Jenny Jones.

To help us make sure we have properly understood your complaint, please tell us:

• your full name, contact details and any reference number you may have for your case (if you are making the complaint to someone other than the person dealing with your case;
• what you think we have done wrong;
• what you think we should do to put things right.

 

If you need any help making your complaint, we will do our best to help you.

 

How will we deal with your complaint?

 

Stage 1

 

In most cases, the best person to respond quickly to your complaint is the person you have been dealing with or their manager, who will be one of the Partners, Mark Morgan or Jenny Jones.

We will acknowledge your complaint within 5 working days of receiving it and the department you’ve been dealing with will respond to you within 10 working days of acknowledging your complaint.

We may be able to deal with the matter in a phone call, or we may need to carry out a detailed review of your case. In all cases we will write to you to tell you the outcome of your complaint and to give you the opportunity to have your complaint reviewed by a partner if you are not satisfied with the outcome.

 

Stage 2

 

The partner will acknowledge your complaint within 5 working days of receiving it. It may take them up to 20 working days to respond to your complaint from the date they acknowledge it.

In some cases, the person you have been dealing with may pass your complaint directly to the partner. (If they do this, we will tell you why.)

 

What if my complaint is justified?

 

If your complaint is justified, we will apologise to you and explain what went wrong and how we plan to put things right. We will learn from our mistakes to improve how we work. In serious cases, we may consider offering a special payment for failures in our service.

 

What do to if we cannot resolve your complaint?

Most of the time, complaints about poor service should be sent to the Legal Ombudsman.

 

If the Legal Ombudsman thinks your case involves a breach of the SRA Principles, the Legal Ombudsman will refer your case to the SRA.

 

The SRA may investigate matters such as complaints of dishonesty, taking or losing your money or treating you unfairly because of your age, a disability or other characteristic or if you think our firm has breached an SRA Principle.

 

The Solicitors Regulation Authority can help you if you are concerned about our behaviour.

http://www.sra.org.uk/consumers/problems/report-solicitor.page

 

Phone: 0370 606 2555 inside the UK (Call costs guide from Ofcom)

International callers: +44 (0)121 329 6800

Postal address: Solicitors Regulation Authority, The Cube, 199 Wharfside Street, Birmingham, B1 1RN (map of location) or DX 720293 BIRMINGHAM 47

 

The Legal Ombudsman can help you if we are unable to resolve your complaint ourselves. They will look at your complaint for free and 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 must take your complaint to the Legal Ombudsman:

 

Within six months of receiving a final response to your complaint

and

Either no more than one year from the date of the act / omission of which you are complaining; or

 

No more than one year from when you should reasonably have known there was cause for complaint.

 

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

 

Visit: www.legalombudsman.org.uk

Call: 0300 555 0333 between 9am to 5pm.

Email: enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk

Legal Ombudsman, PO Box 6167, Slough, SL1 0EH