Complaints Policy
At Hewlett Swanson we are committed to delivering an exceptional service to all of our clients. Whilst we sincerely hope you never have cause for complaint, if something does go wrong, we need you to tell us. This information is crucial to help us to continuously improve our standards.
This leaflet outlines our policy for dealing with client complaints and how we handle them.
How do I complain?
1. The first step is to either write or speak to the person who is dealing with your matter, or your client director (whose contact details will be found in your engagement letter). If you telephone us we will endeavour to resolve the issue during that call.
2. If you are not satisfied with our initial response at 1 above, or, if you do not wish to refer your complaint to your client director, then you should email our complaints manager, Karen Unsworth. You can contact Karen by email at karen.unsworth@hewlettswanson.com
Investigating your complaint
- We will acknowledge your complaint within 2 working days of receiving it.
- Our aim is to respond in full within 21 working days. However, if we cannot give you a full response within that time we will let you know how long it will take. A thorough investigation will be conducted into the issues raised. If we require any further information regarding your complaint we will contact you.
- Following our investigation we will respond to you in writing to set out our findings and where necessary, details of how we propose to resolve the matter.
- We hope to resolve all complaints in an 8 week period, hopefully to your satisfaction. If the complaint is not resolved within this timeframe, then you may have recourse to the Legal Ombudsman.
Referral to the Legal Ombudsman
In the unfortunate event that we have not been able to resolve your complaint or you are not happy with the outcome, you may contact the Legal Ombudsman. The Legal Ombudsman generally requires that you have followed our complaints procedure and that procedure has been exhausted before it will consider a complaint. If the Legal Ombudsman is satisfied that our proposals for resolving a complaint are reasonable, it may decline to investigate further.
Any complaint to the Legal Ombudsman should be made:
- within 6 months of the end of our complaints process; and
- within 1 year from the date of the alleged act or omission; or
- within 1 year from when you should reasonably have known there was cause for complaint.
You can contact the Legal Ombudsman:
- by post: PO Box 6806, Wolverhampton WV1 9WJ;
- by telephone: 0300 555 0333;
- by email: enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk
For further guidance about how to make a complaint, visit: http://www.legalombudsman.org.uk
The Solicitors Regulation Authority
If your concern relates to our conduct, you may wish to make a complaint to our regulator, The Solicitors Regulation Authority. You can contact the Solicitors Regulation Authority:
- by post: SRA Report, The Cube, 199 Wharfside Street, Birmingham B1 1RN;
- by telephone: 0370 606 2555;
- by email: reports@sra.org.uk