As part of our commitment to customer satisfaction, GWlegal has a rigorous complaints procedure that you can access at any time.
If you have a complaint about the service you receive from us, at any time, you should raise this with the person responsible for your case. If they cannot resolve the matter, then you should speak to the manager of the team.
Please see below a copy of our full complaints handling procedure, which will be followed should the person responsible for your case or the manager of the team not be able to resolve your concerns.
We are authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA). We are committed to high quality legal advice and client care and aim to offer all our clients an efficient and effective service. However, if our clients would like to discuss how the service to them could be improved, the level of their bill, or should there be any aspect of our service with which they are not satisfied, we ask them to please contact the person in our firm responsible for complaints handling: Lauren Roberts Customer Service Manager on 0345 373 3737 or Lauren.Roberts@gw.legal or by post to 20 Chapel Street, Liverpool L3 9GW.
We are committed to high quality legal advice and client care and are keen to resolve any concerns as soon as possible and in order to do this, will follow our complaints handling procedure.
Our complaints procedure is as follows:
If they have not already done so, we ask our clients to let us know the full nature of the problem.
Our Complaints Handling Representative will write to the client acknowledging their complaint within two working days. In this letter, we shall confirm what happens next.
Our complaints Handling Representative and/or appropriate Department Head shall then investigate the matter by reviewing the matter file and speaking to the member of staff concerned within twelve working days of acknowledging receipt of the complaint. If, for some reason, the matter cannot be investigated in this timeframe, then we will write to the client notifying them of this together with the reason why and giving a revised timescale.
Once the investigation has been completed, our Complaints Handling Representative or appropriate Head of Department will send to the client a detailed response including any proposed solution, within three working days.
If the client is satisfied with our response following the above steps, that will be the end of the matter. However, if the client is not satisfied, they will be invited to contact our Complaints Handling Representative again and she will arrange for a Director of the firm to review the decision. He will write to the client within fifteen days of receiving the request with confirmation of the firm’s final position in relation to the complaint, outlining the reasons and any final redress that is offered.
Clients must always try complaining to us first. In most cases they will not be able to take their complaint further without allowing us the opportunity to put things right.
We are permitted a minimum of eight weeks to consider the complaint. If for any reason we are unable to resolve the problem between us within that timeframe, then our clients are advised that they may ask the Legal Ombudsman to consider the complaint.
Clients are free to refer any complaint about our work, fees or level of service but there are some conditions and time limits. Please be aware that any complaint to the Legal Ombudsman must usually be made within six months of the client having received a final written response from us about their complaint. Complaints to the Legal Ombudsman must usually be made within one year of the act or omission about which the client is complaining occurring; or within one year from when the client should have known about or become aware that there were grounds for complaint.
For further information, please contact the Legal Ombudsman on 0300 555 0333 or visit http://www.legalombudsman.org.uk - The Legal Ombudsman may be contacted at Legal Ombudsman, PO Box 6167, Slough, SL1 0EH.
If someone thinks a solicitor might be dishonest or you have concerns about their ethics or integrity, they have the right to notify our regulator, the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA). There are no time limits for making a report but there are limits on what the SRA will consider. Please note that the SRA is not able to deal with issues of poor service (complaints of this nature should instead be referred to the Legal Ombudsman). For further information about the SRA’s role, please contact the SRA or visit: http://www.sra.org.uk/consumers/problems/report-solicitor.page#report
For further information about our complaints handling procedures, please do not hesitate to contact Lauren Roberts Customer Service Manager on 0345 373 3737 or Lauren.Roberts@gw.legal or by post to 20 Chapel Street, Liverpool L3 9GW.
