HomeComplaints Procedure

 Complaints Procedure

Complaints Handling Procedure

We are committed to providing a level of high quality legal advice and client care and we are keen to resolve any complaints that may arise as soon as possible and in order to do this we will follow our complaints handling procedure.

Our complaints procedure is as follows:

Step One:

If you have not already done so, please let us know the full nature of the problem. You can do this by emailing our complaints handling director, Mr S Bailey at s.bailey@baileygarchasolicitors.co.uk or writing to us at Bailey Garcha Solicitors, Suite 16C, McLaren Building, 46 Priory Queensway, Birmingham B4 7LR.

Step Two:

We will write to you acknowledging your complaint within three working days. In this letter, we shall confirm what happens next.

Step Three:

We shall then investigate the matter by reviewing the matter file and speaking to the member of staff concerned within five working days of acknowledging receipt of your complaint.  If, for some reason, the matter cannot be investigated in this timeframe, then we will write to you notifying you of this together with the reason why and giving a revised timescale. Once the investigation has been completed, we shall invite you to a meeting to discuss the issue(s) you have raised and hopefully resolve the complaint. This meeting can be accommodated in person or virtually should you wish. This meeting will take place within fourteen days of sending you the acknowledgement letter.  Following the meeting, we shall write to you within five working days of the meeting to confirm our discussion and the solution agreed upon.

Step Four:

If you do not want to or are unable to attend such a meeting, we are happy to send you a detailed, written response, including our proposed solution, within fourteen working days of sending you the letter acknowledging receipt of your complaint.

Step Five:

If you are satisfied with our response in either Step three or four above, that will be the end of the matter.  However, if you are not satisfied, you should contact the office again and we will arrange for another director to review the decision.   He/She will write to you within fourteen days of receiving your request with confirmation of the firm’s final position in relation to your complaint, outlining the reasons and any final redress that is offered.

Step Six:

We have eight weeks to consider your complaint. If for any reason we are unable to resolve the problem between us within that timeframe, then you may ask the Legal Ombudsman to consider the complaint.  The Legal Ombudsman may be contacted at PO Box 6806, Wolverhampton WV1 9WJ.

Please be aware that any complaint to the Legal Ombudsman must usually be made within six months of your having received a final written response from us about your complaint.

Complaints to the Legal Ombudsman must usually be made within six years of the act or omission about which you are complaining occurring; or within three years from when you should have known about or become aware that there were grounds for complaint.

For further information, you can contact the Legal Ombudsman in the following ways:

Please note that to be entitled to complain to the Legal Ombudsman, you must be:

  • An individual;
  • A business or enterprise that is a micro-enterprise(European Union definition(1);
  • A charity that has an annual income, net of tax, of less than £1million;
  • A club/association/organisation, the affairs of which are managed by its members/a committee/a committee of its members, that has an annual income, net of tax, of less than £1 million;
  • A trustee of a trust with an asset value of less than £1 million; or
  • A personal representative or beneficiary of the estate of a person who, before they died, had not referred the complaint to the Legal Ombudsman.

Alternative Complaints Handling Body

We are required to inform you that alternative complaints handling bodies (such as Promediate, Brow Farm, Top Road, Frodsham, Cheshire, WA6 6SP. Tel; 0203 6213908/07827 961 764, www.promeditate.co.uk) exist which are able to deal with complaints about legal services should both you and we wish to use such a scheme. Whilst it is free to use the Legal Ombudsman service, there is a fee for using alternative complaints handling body. Given the cost and the fact that mediation is not binding on you or us, we see no benefit in this and we do not agree to such a body.

In the event that your complaint relates to anything other than poor service, then you may choose to report a solicitor or a firm to the SRA. The SRA works with lawyers, non-lawyers and firms to ensure that they comply with the SRA principles.

For further information, you can contact the SRA in the following ways: