Introduction
The Legal Ombudsman service has been operational since October 6th, 2010 and is ultimately responsible for ensuring that complaints are dealt with appropriately. However, before you contact the Legal Ombudsman you must first register an official complaint with us. Normally, the Legal Ombudsman expects you to give us 8 weeks to try to resolve the matter. If after 8 weeks you are still dissatisfied you can then involve the Legal Ombudsman. For more information on how the Legal Ombudsman works please visit the Legal Ombudsman website.
Timescales
In normal circumstances you are required to register a complaint within one year. You must then give us 8 weeks to try to resolve your complaint before contacting the Legal Ombudsman. A complaint to the Legal Ombudsman must normally be made within six months of the date of the conclusion of the Firm's complaints procedure and within 12 months of the act or omission about which you are complaining occurring (or within 12 months of when you should reasonably have known that there was cause for a complaint). In summary:
- You must register your complaint with us within one year
- The Legal Ombudsman expects you to give us 8 weeks to try to resolve your complaint
- After this time, you can contact the Legal Ombudsman (but you must do so within 6 months)
Getting Started
To register a formal complaint, please write to us and include all the information suggested by the Legal Ombudsman - their website includes some useful checklists and sample letters.
In addition to the Legal Ombudsman, several other complaints bodies exist which are also able to deal with complaints about legal services - these are: Ombudsman Services, ProMediate, Small Claims Mediation and the European Online Dispute Resolution platform. Information about these alternatives can be found at:
