Help with raising your concerns.
We are committed to providing a high-quality legal service to all our clients. We would first like to resolve any concerns you might have informally. In doing so, we aim to avoid stress and hassle for you and avoid lengthy investigation times that can unfortunately arise from a formal investigation. Where we try to resolve things informally, we are still aiming for the same outcome of a formal complaint: we want to fully resolve your concerns.
How to make a formal complaint
If your concerns cannot be resolved informally or you would prefer to raise a formal complaint in the first instance, you can do so my emailing a.rana@mears-hobbs.co.uk or by writing to our offices: Mears Hobbs LLP Solicitors, 92 High Street, Gorleston-On-Sea, Norfolk, NR31 6RH
We ask that you be clear and concise, as well as explaining what you would like us to do to put things right. We may ask you for further information that where it helps us understand or investigate your complaint further.
What will happen next?
- We will respond acknowledging your complaint within 5 working days of receiving it.
- We will then investigate your complaint. This will normally involve a senior staff member reviewing your complaint, reviewing your file, speaking to members of staff who acted for you and discussing all of the above with our principle solicitor, Asad Rana.
- Our principle solicitor may invite you to a meeting, which could be held remotely, to discuss your complaint if they feel that this could help us understand your complaint and help resolve the matter. You may also request a meeting by emailing us. If necessary, this meeting will take place within 14 days of sending you the acknowledgement letter. Within 5 working days of the meeting, we will write to you to confirm what took place and any solutions which may have been agreed.
- If our principle solicitor feels a meeting to discuss your complaint is not necessary, or you do not want a meeting, we will send you a detailed written reply to your complaint, known as a “Final Response”, including any suggestions for resolving the matter. This will be issued within 28 days of receiving your complaint and will have been approved or prepared by our principle solicitor.
If we have to change any of the timescales above, we will let you know and explain why.
What if am not satisfied with the outcome?
If we are unable to resolve your complaint within 8 weeks of receiving it, then you can have the complaint independently reviewed by the Legal Ombudsman. The Legal Ombudsman expects complaints to be made to them either i) within a year of the date of the act or omission about which you are concerned or ii) within a year of you realising there was a concern.
Additionally, you are required to refer your concerns to the Legal Ombudsman within six
months of our Final Response.
The contact details for the Legal Ombudsman are as follows:
– Website: www.legalombudsman.org.uk
– Email: enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk
– Letter: Legal Ombudsman, PO Box 6806, Wolverhampton, WV1 9WJ
– For minicom: call 0300 555 1777
– Telephone: 0300 555 0333 between 8:30am to 5:30pm
Calls from both mobiles and landlines to 03 numbers cost no more than calls to national geographic numbers (starting
01 or 02). Calls are recorded and may be used for training and monitoring purposes. Do not send original files to the Legal Ombudsman as these are likely to be destroyed after scanning.
What to do if you are unhappy with our behaviour
The Solicitors Regulation Authority can help if you are concerned about our behaviour. This could be for things like dishonesty, taking or losing your money or treating you unfairly because of your age, a disability or other characteristic.
Visit their website to see how you can raise your concerns with sra.org.uk/consumers