Our complaints policy
We are committed to providing a high-quality service to all clients of the practice. This includes a commitment to putting things right when they go wrong. This policy explains how we will deal with any complaint that is referred to us. Your complaint might concern the way in which you have been dealt with, the quality of advice you have received or the amount of any invoice that you have received.
Our complaints procedure
If you have a complaint, please let us know, whether by post to this office or by e-mailing the founder, Geeta Daswani at Geeta@thedlc.co.uk. It would be helpful if you could let me know your concerns in writing which is why even in our Terms of Business we request clients to submit all complaints in a format reproducible in writing and which gives a description of the complaint along with supporting evidence, if possible.
To explain to you how long this process might take we have included our target times for each stage of the process. Where, for any reason, it is not possible to observe any of these limits we will let you know and explain why.
What will happen next?
- On receipt of your complaint we will send you a letter acknowledging your complaint and might invite you to a meeting to discuss your concerns. We will open a file for your complaint in our system and will examine the file on the work that this practice has been doing for you. We aim to acknowledge your complaint within 2 (two) working days of receiving it and will complete our initial examination within 7 (seven) working days.
- We might then invite you to a meeting or write to you to ask for further information. Alternatively, we might write to you setting out our views on the situation and proposing any redress that would seem to be appropriate. We will aim to write to you with our views and any suggestions within 7 (seven) working days of completing our investigations.
- Where we feel that we have failed in our standards we could offer an apology, a reduction of an outstanding bill or a repayment (partial or full) in relation to any payment received.
- You may, if you wish, approach the Legal Ombudsman who provides a service examining complaints against lawyers, including solicitors’ firms. The Ombudsman will usually expect firms to have concluded their examination of complaints within 8 (eight weeks) of being notified of them and will require complaints to be referred to the Ombudsman’s office within 6 (six) months of our final response that marks the end of our complaints handling process as set out above. The services provided by the Legal Ombudsman are limited to individuals and smaller organisations. – for more details of this service see the website. The full details of how to contact this office are as follows:
Telephone: 0300 555 0333
Minicom: 0300 555 1777
E-mail: enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk
Website: www.legalombudsman.org.uk
Address: Legal Ombudsman, PO Box 6806, Wolverhampton WV1 9WJ
5 You should note that the Legal Ombudsman will not be able to accept your complaint if:
- more than one year has elapsed from the date of the alleged act or omission giving rise to your complaint, or
- more than one year has elapsed from the date when you should reasonably have known that there was cause for complaint.
Submitting a complaint to the SRA
We are committed to upholding the rules of professional conduct and adhering to the principles set by the SRA (Solicitors Regulation Authority). Should you feel we have breached any of the principles set by the SRA you are entitled to submit a complaint to the SRA by completing the “report form” available on the SRA website. Further details about submitting a complaint to the SRA can be found at https://www.sra.org.uk/consumers/problems/report-solicitor/
Thank you for bringing your concerns to our attention. We regret any dissatisfaction that you have experienced in using the services of this practice and we will do our best to address your concerns. Assisting you in the best way possible is a priority for us and our primary objective is to put things right.
