If you inform us that you feel that we have failed to meet our own standards or your expectations of us and that you wish to make a complaint, we will adopt the procedure outlined below to resolve your complaint quickly and efficiently.
Initially you should raise your concerns with the person or team handling your case, who will try to resolve the issue for you. If you are not happy with the resolution suggested then you can escalate your dissatisfaction to a team manager. If you do so, then a team manager will contact you to discuss your concerns and attempt to resolve your complaint to your satisfaction. If the manager is unable to resolve the matter, they will refer your complaint to our Compliance Team for a formal investigation.
Your complaint will ultimately be overseen by the Compliance Officer for Legal Practice, and recorded in our central register. The Compliance Officer for Legal Practice at Admiral Law is Caroline Blake.
If a formal complaint is raised to our Compliance Team, we will usually write to you to acknowledge that you have made a complaint and, in that email/letter, we will confirm the name and title of the person you can contact with any queries concerning your complaint. On occasion, our first letter to you may be our formal complaint response, which will also confirm the name and title of the person who has provided that response. You will not be charged by us for making a complaint and our complaint investigation will be separate to any on-going case you may have with us.
During the investigation of your complaint the person handling your complaint may contact you to confirm the details of the matter and may seek any necessary clarification of your complaint. The complaint handler may attempt to contact you if further information regarding your complaint is required; if they do so, it will usually be within five working days of receiving notification of the complaint, by telephone, unless you provide alternative instructions for contact. If the complaint handler is unable to speak with you or if they already have sufficient details of your complaint, they will continue with the investigation to avoid delay in providing a response to your complaint. The investigation of your complaint may involve reviewing your file and/or speaking to any staff involved in the matter.
We will contact you by email/letter, or by other method agreed with you, usually within ten working days of the acknowledgement of your complaint, setting out the results of the investigation, and suggesting what, if any, actions are proposed by us to remedy the situation. If, for any reason, we cannot meet the timescale for this response, the complaint handler will notify you of the reasons for this in advance and set out a reasonable alternative timescale.
If you confirm that you are satisfied with the proposed remedy, the complaint will be closed on our central register. If you do not respond to the letter, the complaint handler will contact you to check you have received it and are happy with the response and proposed remedy.
If, however, you notify us that you are dissatisfied with our response and/or the proposed remedy, you may be contacted by the complaint handler to discuss your complaint further in order to reach a resolution. This will only usually take place if our complaint response has not covered all of the aspects of your complaint. Should that be the case, you will then receive a further written response, usually within ten working days of that communication, confirming our final position in respect of your complaint. You may accept this response, or you may ask for the complaint response to be reviewed, which review will then be dealt with by the Compliance Officer for Legal Practice or the Quality & Governance Solicitor or the Compliance Team Manager.
If for any reason we cannot meet this timescale for our final response, the person conducting the review will notify you of the reasons for this in advance and will set out a reasonable alternative timetable.
If you are still not satisfied, you can contact the Legal Ombudsman at:
Legal Ombudsman
PO Box 6167
Slough
SL1 0EH.
or by calling 0300 555 0333 or by emailing [email protected] about your complaint.
Before you make a complaint to the Legal Ombudsman, it is a requirement that you have raised your complaint with us first and we have had 8 weeks to deal with your complaint. If you are not satisfied with our reply after the 8 weeks has expired, you can complain to the Legal Ombudsman within six months of receiving our final written response. Please note that if we have made you a monetary offer as part of our complaint response and you bank that payment, the Legal Ombudsman may not accept a referral to them under their scheme rules. Any complaint to the Legal Ombudsman on or after April 1st 2023 must usually be made within one year of the act or omission about which you are complaining.
For further information, you should contact the Legal Ombudsman or refer to the Legal Ombudsman's website at www.legalombudsman.org.uk..
If you have a complaint that is about our conduct rather than the service we are providing, then the Solicitors’ Regulation Authority can help you You can raise your concerns with them via their website: www.sra.org.uk.