Complaints Procedure

REGULATORY REVIEW

Pinto Potts is regulated by the Solicitors Code of Conduct 2011.  The Code is available in English at www.sra.org.uk. 

COMPLAINT OPTIONS

We aim to offer all of our clients an efficient and effective service.  Should there be any aspect of our service with which you are unhappy, be that the conduct of your matter or an issue relating to the cost of that matter, you should feel free to complain either:- 

Direct to us using our complaints procedure as detailed below; or

To the Legal Ombudsman at P O Box 6086 Wolverhampton WV1 9WJ, telephone number 0300 555 0333, web: www.legalombudsman.org.uk, email enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk.

If your complaint relates to our Bill of Costs you may, in addition, apply to the Court for an assessment of those costs.  If you do so the Legal Ombudsman may not continue to deal with your complaint if it is about our fees.

COMPLAINTS PROCEDURE

If you have a complaint, please contact David Pinto, our client care partner.

You can contact him at Manor Park Chambers, 304 High Street, Aldershot, Hants, telephone 01252 361200  or e-mail david.pinto@pintopotts.co.uk .  He will then record the complaint in our Complaints Register, review the matter and pass your complaint to the relevant Team Leader/Head of Department to investigate it.   We will act promptly in dealing with your complaint in accordance with the time scales set out below.    If we have to change any of the timescales we will let you know and explain why.

WHAT WILL HAPPEN NEXT?

1.  We will send you a letter acknowledging your complaint within 7 days of receipt and if necessary ask you to confirm or explain any details.   We will also let you know the name of the person who will be dealing with your complaint.   We will also investigate your complaint by examining the relevant file.

2.  We would hope to be in a position to meet with you in the office, or if this is inconvenient telephone you no later than 14 days after first receiving your complaint.   If you do not agree with either of these options we will write to you fully setting out our views on the situation with our proposals to resolve the complaint to your satisfaction.

3.  At this stage if you are still not satisfied please let us know.   We will then arrange to review our decision.   We aim to do this within 10 days of receiving notification from you.   This will happen in one of the following ways:

  • We will review our decision.
  • We will arrange for a senior person in the firm who has not been involved in your complaint to review it. This may be David Pinto or such other person as he should designate.
  • We will ask the Legal Ombudsman at P O Box 6086 Wolverhampton WV1 9WJ or e-mail enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk, telephone 0300 555 0333 to review your complaint. In such circumstances we will let you know how long this process will take.
  • We will invite you to agree to independent mediation, and will let you know how long this process will take

4.  We will let you know the result of the review in writing within 5 days of the end of the review.

THE LEGAL OMBUDSMAN 

You may be eligible to pursue your complaint through the Legal Ombudsman. In that respect you should note the following.

The Legal Ombudsman’s service is available to “individuals”.  Certain categories of people and organisations cannot use the service.  For clarification of the term “individual” or for guidance as to whether or not the service is available to you please refer to the Scheme Rules on the Legal Ombudsman’s website.

The Legal Ombudsman scheme rules indicate that you should not ordinarily pursue a complaint to the Legal Ombudsman unless you have first used this firms’ complaints procedure. 

You are entitled to lodge a complaint with the Legal Ombudsman if your complaint has not been resolved to your satisfaction within 8 weeks of lodging your complaint with this firm. 

If you wish to pursue a complain to the Legal Ombudsman, then you must submit that complaint no later than 6 months from the date on which you received a definitive response to your complaint from this firm or from the last day of the 8 week period, whichever is the earlier.

There are exceptions to the 8 week and 6 month rules. For information relating to those exceptions please refer to the Scheme Rules on the Legal Ombudsman’s website.