PD Law Complaints Policy

At PD Law we deem a complaint as being any communication from a Client in which they have expressed dissatisfaction with the service provided alleging that they have or may suffer financial loss, distress, inconvenience or other deteriment

PD Law Solicitors is committed to providing legal services of the highest quality to all clients. However, at times there will be some clients who feel our services have not met their expectations. Our response to complaints is an important part of maintaining relationships with those clients. Complaints are often not about the quality of advice given but are more frequently about failure to keep a client updated or respond to queries.

All complaints must be treated seriously and must be dealt with promptly and politely. Under the SRA Code of Conduct 2019, PD Law Solicitors is obliged to give complainants specific information about the complaints process and ensure complaints are dealt with promptly, fairly, openly and effectively. Information on complaints is given to clients within PD Laws Terms and Conditions of Business and copies of our complaints procedure are to be made available on request. It is the responsibility of all staff to be familiar with the policy.

 

Our Complaints Procedure

If you have a concern or a complaint that has not been dealt with to your satisfaction by the person handling your case or their supervisor, please contact us as soon as you are aware of the problem so this can be addressed. Please address your concern or complaint to Phillip Doyle, Managing Director, PD Law Solicitors, 6 Mulberry Avenue, Turnstone Business Park, Widnes, Cheshire WA8 0WN.

 

What will happen next?

  1. We will send you a letter acknowledging receipt of your complaint within five days working of our receiving the complaint.

  2. We will then investigate your complaint. This will normally involve passing your complaint to our Managing Director, who will review your matter file and speak to the member of staff who acted for you. He will formally respond to your complaint with his findings within 8 weeks of receiving your complaint. If the investigation warrants an extended timescale you will be notified accordingly.

    If appropriate, the Managing Director’s response will included his suggestions for resolving the matter,

  3. Our Managing Director will then invite you to a meeting to discuss and, it is hoped, resolve your complaint.
  4. Within three days of the meeting, the Managing Director will write to you to confirm what took place and any solutions he has agreed with you.
  5. If you do not want a meeting or you do not respond, the Managing Director will deem the matter to be resolved.
  6. However, if you are still not satisfied, you should contact us again to explain why you remain unhappy with our response and we will review your comments. Depending on the matter we may at this stage arrange for another Senior Solicitor to review the decision.
  7. We will write to you within 28 days of receiving your request for a review, confirming our final position on your complaint and explaining our reasons.
  8. If you are still not satisfied, you can then contact the Legal Ombudsman at PO Box 6167, Slough, SL1 0EH or call 0300 555 0333 about your complaint.

The Legal Ombudsman will look at your complaint independently and it will not affect how we handle your case.

Before accepting a complaint for investigation, the Legal Ombudsman will check that you have tried to resolve your complaint with us first. If you have, then you must take your complaint to the Legal Ombudsman:

  • Within six months of receiving our final response to your complaint

and

  • No more than one year from the date of the act or omission being complained about; or
  • No more than one year from the date when you should reasonably have known that there was cause for complaint.

Visit: www.legalombudsman.org.uk
Call: 0300 555 0333 between 9am to 5pm.
Email: enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk
Write to them at: Legal Ombudsman, PO Box 6167, Slough, SL1 0EH

The Legal Ombudsman has provided further guidance on its service at www.legalombudsman.org.uk. If we have to change any of the timescales above, we will let you know and explain why.

 

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 the Solicitors Regulation Authority.