OUR COMPLAINTS POLICY
We are committed to providing a high-quality legal service to all our clients. However, if something goes wrong, we encourage you to tell us. Your feedback helps us improve our standards and services.
In the first instance, it may be helpful to contact the person handling your case to discuss your concerns. We will do our best to resolve any issues promptly at this stage. If the matter remains unresolved, you should contact our Complaints Officer, Asif Timol, with full details of your complaint.
You can contact us by email at: info@clearcutlegal.co.uk
OUR COMPLAINTS PROCEDURE
If you have a complaint about our service or a bill that we have rendered or both, please contact us with the details. The person to contact is:
Asif Timol
Argutus Legal Ltd
7 Tawe Business Village
Swansea Enterprise Park
Swansea
SA7 9LA
Tel: 01792 979 845
Email: asif.timol@clearcutlegal.co.uk
WHAT WILL HAPPEN NEXT?
Step 1 – Acknowledgement
We will acknowledge receipt of your complaint within 7 days, either by telephone or in writing. We will also provide a copy of this procedure and may ask you to clarify aspects of your complaint.
Step 2 – Investigation
We will then investigate your complaint. This will normally involve your complaint being reviewed by our Complaints Officer, who will speak to the member of staff who acted for you.
Step 3 – Discussion and Resolution
We will then invite you to a meeting to discuss and hopefully resolve your complaint. This will be done within 21 days of sending you the acknowledgement letter. If you do not want a meeting or it is not possible, we will send you a detailed written reply to your complaint, including suggestions for resolving the matter
Step 4 – Confirmation
Within 5 days of any meeting, we will write to confirm what was discussed and any agreed outcomes.
Step 5 – Review
At this stage, if you are still not satisfied, you should contact us again and we will arrange for another or someone unconnected with the matter at the practice to review the decision.
Step 6 – Final Response
We will write to you within 14 days of receiving your request for a review, confirming our final position on your complaint and explaining our reasons.
LEGAL OMBUDSMAN
In the unlikely event that we cannot resolve your complaint; you may wish to raise your matter with the Legal Ombudsman. You have six months (subject to some qualifications below) from the date of our final response in which to complain to the Legal Ombudsman. If you are still not satisfied, you can then contact the Legal Ombudsman at:
Legal Ombudsman
PO Box 6167
Slough
SL1 0EH
Telephone: 0300 555 0333
Email: enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk
Website: www.legalombudsman.org.uk
There are time limits within which complaints must be made to the Legal Ombudsman, as indicated below.
Time limits:
• Your complaint should generally be made within 12 months of the issue arising or when you became aware of it.
• You must also refer your complaint within six months of receiving our final response.
Your complaint must normally meet both time limits to be considered.
You also need to be aware that the Ombudsman only deals with complaints from the following:
(a) an enterprise which, at the time that the complaint is made, is a micro-enterprise within the meaning of arts.1, 2(1) and (3) of the Annex to Commission Recommendation 2003/361/EC, as that Recommendation had effect at the date it was adopted;
(b) a charity with an annual income net of tax of less than £1 million at the time at which the complainant refers the complaint to the respondent;
(c) a club, association or organisation, the affairs of which are managed by its members or a committee or committees of its members, with an annual income net of tax of less than £1 million at the time at which the complainant refers the complaint to the respondent;
(d) a trustee of a trust with an asset value of less than £1 million at the time at which the complainant refers the complaint to the respondent;
(e) a personal representative of an estate of a person; or
(f) a beneficiary of an estate of a person.
SOLICITORS REGULATION AUTHORITY (SRA)
If you are concerned that our behaviour has been inappropriate in some way, or is in breach of the principles or outcomes provided for in the SRA’s Standards and Regulations, the SRA may be able to help.
Visit https://www.sra.org.uk/ to see how you can raise your concerns with the SRA or call them on 0370 606 2555. You can also contact the SRA by post at the following address:
Solicitors Regulation Authority, The Cube, 199 Wharfside Street, Birmingham, B1 1RN
DATA PROTECTION COMPLAINTS (DPA / UK GDPR)
We take the protection of personal data seriously and are committed to complying with applicable data protection laws, including the UK GDPR and Data Protection Act 2018.
If you have a complaint about how we have handled your personal data, please contact us using the details above, clearly stating that your complaint relates to data protection.
When submitting a data protection complaint, please provide as much detail as possible, including:
- The nature of your concern
- Relevant dates and correspondence
- The impact on you
What you can expect from us:
- We will acknowledge your data protection complaint within 30 days.
- We will investigate your complaint promptly and thoroughly.
- We will keep you informed of progress where appropriate.
- We will provide a clear written outcome without undue delay.
INFORMATION COMMISSIONER’S OFFICE (ICO)
If you are not satisfied with our response to your data protection complaint, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), the UK regulator for data protection.
For more information or to make a complaint, please visit: Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) – Make a complaint
You should normally raise your concern with us first before contacting the ICO.