We want to give you the best possible service. However, if at any point you become unhappy or concerned about the service we provided then you should inform us immediately, so that we can do our best to resolve the problem.
In the first instance it may be helpful to contact the person who is working on your case to discuss your concerns and we will do our best to resolve any issues. If you would like to make a formal complaint, then you can read our full complaints procedure below. Making a complaint will not affect how we handle your case.
What to do if we cannot resolve your complaint
The Legal Ombudsman can help you if we are unable to resolve your complaint ourselves. They 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:
1. Within six months of receiving our final response to your complaint
and
2. No more than one year from the date of the act or omission being complained about; or
3. No more than one year from the date when you should reasonably have known that there was cause for complaint.
For more information about the Legal Ombudsman contact:
www.legalombudsman.org.uk
Call: 0300 555 0333 between 9.00 to 17.00.
Email: enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk
Legal Ombudsman PO Box 6806, Wolverhampton, WV1 9WJ
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 www.sra.org.uk/solicitors
Our firm’s complaints procedure
Our complaints policy
We are committed to providing a high-quality legal service to all our clients. When something goes wrong we need you to tell us about it. This will help us to improve our standards.
Our complaints procedure
If you have a complaint, please contact Rhodri Thomas our Client Care Partner. You can write to him at our address, which is 8 Court Road, Bridgend CF31 1BN or by email rthomas@stsolicitors.co.uk or you can call him on 01656 645439.
If we have to change any of the responsibilities or the timescales set out below we will let you know and explain why.
What will happen next?
1. Within three days we will send you a letter acknowledging your complaint and asking you to confirm or explain any details. If it seems appropriate we will suggest a meeting at this stage. We will also let you know the name of the person who will be dealing with your complaint.
2. We will then record your complaint in our central register and open a file for your complaint. We will also investigate your complaint by examining the relevant file.
3. If appropriate we will then invite you to meet your solicitor to discuss and hopefully resolve your complaint. We would hope to be in a position to meet with you in this way no longer than 14 days after first receiving your complaint. If you would prefer not to meet, or if we cannot arrange this within an agreeable timescale, we will write fully to you setting out our views on the situation and any redress that we would feel to be appropriate.
4. Within three days of any meeting we will write to you to confirm what took place and any suggestions that we have agreed with you. In appropriate cases we could offer an apology, a reduction of any bill or a repayment in relation to any payment received.
5. At this stage, if you are still not satisfied, please let us know. We will then arrange to review our decision. We would generally aim to do this within 10 days. This will happen in one of the following ways:
a. Another one of our solicitors will review our decision
b. We will arrange for someone in the firm who has not been involved in your complaint to review it.
c. Catrin Morgan, another Partner in the firm will review your complaint within 10 days.
d. We will ask our local law society or another local firm of solicitors to review your complaint. We will let you know how long this process will take.
e. We will invite you to agree to independent mediation. We will let you know how long this process will take.
We will let you know the result of the review within five days of the end of the review. At this time we will write to you confirming our final position on your complaint and explaining our reasons. We will also provide you with the details of an Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) approved body that is competent to deal with complaints about legal services. The matter can be referred to them if we both agree to use the scheme.
If you are not satisfied with our handling of your complaint, you can also ask the Legal Ombudsman as noted above to consider the complaint.
Please Note
1. If your complaint is specifically about our bill, you have the right to object to it and apply for an assessment of it under part III of the Solicitors Act 1974. If you should choose to exercise this right, and the court is assessing our bill, you may be unable to use the Legal Ombudsman service.
2. If you are complaining as a business client, unless you are a “micro business”, you may not be able to use the Legal Ombudsman scheme, and should check the guidance on Legal Ombudsman’s website.
3. If you refer your complaint to the Legal Ombudsman as a trustee/personal representative (executor/administrator) or beneficiary of the estate/trust of a person who, before they died, had not referred the complaint to the Legal Ombudsman the period runs from when the deceased should reasonably have known there was cause for complaint; and when the complainant (or the deceased) should reasonably have known there was a cause for complaint will be assessed on the basis of the complainant’s (or deceased’s) own knowledge, disregarding what the complainant (or the deceased) might have been told if he/she had sought advice.
4. If the Ombudsman considers there are exceptional circumstances (e.g. serious illness or you were still within the time limits when you made your initial complaint to them) then he/she may extend any of the above time limits to the extent that he/she considers fair.
.
Sian Thomas Daughter and Son Solicitors is authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority
This means that we are governed by a Code of Conduct and other professional rules, which you can access on the SRA’s website www.sra.org.uk. If you are unhappy with us you can report us at https://www.sra.org.uk/consumers/problems/report-solicitor/ or Solicitors Regulation Authority, The Cube, 199 Wharfside Street, Birmingham, B1 1RN.
If after exhausting the firm’s internal complaints procedure you remain unhappy or if you feel your complaint has not been resolved during a reasonable timescale you can take your case to the Legal Ombudsman (LeO) at https://www.legalombudsman.org.uk/
or PO Box 6806 Wolverhampton WV1 9WJ
If may be useful for you to visit FAQ https://www.legalombudsman.org.uk/information-centre/faqs/ use the complaint checker on the LeO’s website to help you assess whether or not that is the right place for you to complain https://www.legalombudsman.org.uk/make-a-complaint/complaint-checker/
From 1 April 2023, the time limits for referring a complaint to the Legal Ombudsman will be not later than:
one year from the date of the act or omission being complained about; or
one year from the date when the complainant should have realised that there was cause for complaint.
The Legal Ombudsman will retain the ability to exercise discretion to extend the 1 year time limit for specific customers if, on the evidence, it was fair and reasonable to do so.