AGH Solicitors - Client complaints policy
Our complaints policy
AGH Solicitors is 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. Whenever possible,
please raise any initial client
care problems with the person
acting on your matter to give
them the opportunity of
resolving matters with you.
Often matters can be quickly
resolved in this way.
Our complaints procedure
If you have a concern or a
complaint that has not been
dealt with to your satisfaction
by the person handling your case
or their supervising partner,
please contact us as soon as you
are aware of the problem so this
can be addressed. You can speak
to them on 01204 364433 or write
to them at AGH Solicitors, 126
St Georges Road, Bolton BL1 2BZ.
What will happen next?
1. We will send you a letter
acknowledging receipt of your
complaint within five days of
our receiving the complaint,
enclosing a copy of this
procedure.
2. We will then investigate your
complaint. This will normally
involve passing your complaint
to our client care partner,
Derek Gradwell, who will review
your matter file and speak to
the member of staff who acted
for you.
3. Derek Gradwell will then
invite you to a meeting to
discuss and, it is hoped,
resolve your complaint. He will
do this within 14 days of
sending you the acknowledgement
letter.
4. Within three days of the
meeting, Derek Gradwell will
write to you to confirm what
took place and any solutions he
has agreed with you.
5. If you do not want a meeting
or it is not possible, Derek
Gradwell will send you a
detailed written reply to your
complaint, including his
suggestions for resolving the
matter, within 21 days of
sending you the acknowledgement
letter.
6. At this stage, if you are
still not satisfied, you should
contact us again to explain why
you remain unhappy with our
response and we will review your
comments. Depending on the
matter we may at this stage
arrange for another partner to
review the decision.
7. We will write to you within
14 days of receiving your
request for a review, confirming
our final position on your
complaint and explaining our
reasons.
8. If you are still not
satisfied, you can ask the Legal
Ombudsman to consider your
complaint. We hope that this
does not become necessary and
that we can resolve matters
between ourselves.
The Legal Ombudsman’s contact
details are:
Address: PO Box 6806,
Wolverhampton, WV1 9WJ
Telephone: 0300 555 0333 -from
8.30 am to 5.30 pm
E-mail:
enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk
Website:
www.legalombudsman.org.uk
Normally, you will need to bring
a complaint to the Legal
Ombudsman within six months of
receiving a final written
response from us about your
complaint and within the
following timescales:
– six years from the date of the
act or omission about which you
are complaining occurring; or
– three years from the date you
should reasonably have known
there were grounds for
complaint.
If we have to change any of the
timescales above, we will let
you know and explain why.
Complaints in relation to bills
The complaints procedure above
also applies to complaints
arising concerning our bill.
There may also be a right to
object to the bill by applying
to the court for an assessment
of the bill under Part III of
the Solicitors Act 1974; the
Legal Ombudsman may not consider
a complaint about a bill if you
have applied to the court for
assessment of that bill.
Complaints as to our behaviour
The Solicitors Regulation Authority can help you 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.
You can raise your concerns with the Solicitors Regulation Authority.