Complaints

Complaints

We want to give you the best possible service. However, if at any point you become unhappy or concerned about the service, we have provided then you should inform us 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 and issues at this stage. 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.

BURNINGHAM & BROWN COMPLAINTS PROCEDURE

We are extremely sorry if you are dissatisfied with any aspect of our service. This procedure explains how we will investigate your complaint and try to resolve it. It is intended to ensure that we do this fairly, effectively and swiftly, and to help us continually improve our services wherever possible.

Please address your complaint to David Gay, who is our Client Care Officer. His email address is dgay@bbsolicitors.co.uk

If your complaint is about David Gay, please contact our Deputy Client Care Officer, Sue Carruthers. Her email address is scarruthers@bbsolicitors.co.uk

Both David Gay and Sue Carruthers can also be contacted by telephone on 01225 320090 or by post at Burningham & Brown, 20 Queen Square, Bath, BA1 2HB.

What will happen next?

1. We will record your complaint in our central register and open a file for your complaint. We will do this within one working day of receiving your complaint.
2. We will send you a letter acknowledging your complaint and asking you to confirm or explain the details set out. You can expect to receive our letter within two working days of us receiving your complaint.
3. We will acknowledge your reply to our acknowledgement letter and confirm what will happen next. You can expect to hear from us within three working days of your reply.
4. We will then investigate your complaint. This may involve one or more of the following steps:

• Asking the person who acted for you to respond to your complaint.
• Examining the response and the information in your complaint file.
• Asking the person who acted for you for more information.
• Reviewing all the information.

This may take up to eight working days.
5. We will invite you to meet our Client Care Officer to discuss and, it is hoped, resolve your complaint. We will do this within three working days of the completion of our investigation.
6. Within two working days of the meeting we will write to you to confirm what took place and any suggestions we have agreed with you.
7. If you do not want a meeting or it is not possible, we will send you a detailed reply to your complaint. This will include our suggestions for resolving the matter and any appropriate redress. This will happen within five working days of us completing the investigation.
8. At this stage, if you are still not satisfied you can write to us again. We will then arrange for another partner of the firm to review our decision.
9. We will let you know the result of the review within five working days of receipt of your letter. At this time we will write to you confirming our final position on your complaint and explaining our reasons.
If we have to change any of the timescales above, we will let you know and explain why. We very much hope that we can resolve any complaint internally and improve our service as a result.

Solicitors Regulation Authority

You can also contact the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) if you have any concerns about our conduct or behaviour during your matter. For more information on how to raise concerns to the SRA, please visit their website:

http://www.sra.org.uk/consumers/problems/report-solicitor.page

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:

• Within six months of receiving a final response to your complaint and
• No more than six years from the date of act/omission; or
• No more than three years from when you should reasonably have known there was cause for complaint.

If you would like more information about the Legal Ombudsman, please contact them.

Visit: www.legalombudsman.org.uk
Call: 0300 555 0333 between 9am to 5pm.

Email: enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk
Legal Ombudsman P O Box 6167, Slough, SL1 0EH