Complaints Procedure 

Our complaints procedure:

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If a client has a complaint, they must contact in writing Carl Woolf at carl.woolf@woolflaw.co.uk setting out the details of the complaint.

 

1. Within three days he will send a letter acknowledging the complaint and asking the client to confirm or explain any details. If it seems appropriate we will suggest a meeting at this stage. 

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2. We will then record the complaint in our central register and open a file for the complaint. We will also investigate the complaint by examining the relevant file.

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3. If appropriate we will then invite the Client to a face to face or online meeting to discuss and hopefully resolve the complaint. 

We would hope to be in a position to meet with the Client in this way no longer than 14 days after first receiving the complaint. 

If the Client would prefer not to meet, or if we cannot arrange this within an agreeable timescale, we will write fully to them 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 them Client to confirm what took place and any suggestions that we have agreed with them. 

 

5. In appropriate cases we could offer an apology, a reduction of any bill or a repayment in relation to any payment received.

 

6. At this stage, if the Client is still not satisfied, they must 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.

 

7. Carl Woolf will review his own decision based on the further representations.

 

8. We will ask our local law society or another local firm of solicitors to review the complaint. We will let the Client know how long this process will take.

 

9. We will invite the Client to agree to independent mediation. We will let them know how long this process will take.

 

10. We will let the Client know the result of the review within five days of the end of the review. At this time we will write to them confirming our final position on the complaint and explaining our reasons. We will also give them the name and address of the Legal Ombudsman. If they are still not satisfied, they can contact them about the complaint. We very much hope that this will not be necessary.

 

11. If you are not satisfied with our handling of your complaint you can ask the Legal Ombudsman to consider the complaint. The Legal Ombudsman can be contacted through the following:

 

Legal Ombudsman
PO Box 6806
Wolverhampton
WV1 9WJ

Tel: 0300 555 0333
Email: enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk
Web: 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

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• No more than six years from the date of the act/omission; or

• No more than three years from when you should reasonably have known there was a cause for complaint. 

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12. What to do if you are unhappy with our behaviour 

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The Solicitors Regulation Authority can help if you are concerned about our behaviour.

The SRA can be contacted via their website: https://www.sra.org.uk/consumers/problems/report-solicitor/

If we have to change any of the timescales above, we will let you know and explain to you why.

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