Complaints Procedure

LEGAL UK SERVICES LTD is committed to providing a first-class legal service to all our clients. However, we recognised that on occasions things may not go as planned. If something does go wrong please tell us about it so that it can help us improve the quality and standard of our service. Elaine Walker, our legal director, is our designated complaints handling person with overall responsibility for complaints. She can be contacted at [email protected] , or by post at Legal UK Services Ltd, Lynnfield House, Church Street, Altrincham, WA14 4DZ.
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Our Complaints Procedure
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Stage 1 If you have any concerns about the way in which your matter is being handled please raise it, in the first instance, with the Solicitor dealing with your file. If they are unable to deal with your concern to your satisfaction, you may then ask that the matter be formally investigated under our Complaints Procedure.

Stage 2 If your concern has not been addressed to your satisfaction by the Solicitor, then please write or email their Supervisor who will conduct an independent investigation of the complaint. You will find the Supervisor’s details in your initial paperwork or through your Solicitor. If you are unable to locate this information you can contact Elaine Walker by emailing [email protected]. Your complaint will be acknowledged within 3 days and a written response will be provided within 28 calendar days of the complaint being received.

Stage 3 If the complaint remains unresolved, it will, at your request be escalated to our designated complaints handling person. The complaint will be reviewed and further investigations may be carried out, if deemed necessary. We will write to you within 28 calendar days of receiving your request for review and confirm our final position on your complaint and explain our reasons.

Stage 4 Should you remain dissatisfied with the outcome of our final decision, you may lodge an appeal to Matthew Lee, via [email protected]. Matthew Lee will consider the existing information relating to your complaint, who may consider it necessary to undertake further investigations. We shall write to you within 28 days of receiving your request to appeal, confirming our position.

Stage 5 We have eight weeks to consider your complaint. Following our final response, if your complaint is not resolved to your satisfaction you have the right to complain to the Legal Ombudsman.

You can contact the Legal Ombudsman at PO Box 6806, Wolverhampton WV1 9WJ, www.legalombudsman.org.uk, Tel: 0300 555 0333, [email protected].

You must take your complaint to the Legal Ombudsman within six months of receiving a final response to your complaint from us. From 1 April 2023, the Legal Ombudsman also expects complaints to be made to them within 1 year of the date of the act or omission about which you are concerned or within 1 year of you realising there was a concern.

The Legal Ombudsman cannot deal with all complaints and will only deal with complaints from members of the public, certain very small businesses, charities, clubs and trusts. The Legal Ombudsman will tell you whether they are able to deal with your complaint. If we are unable to meet any of the timescales noted above, we will let you know and explain why.

Please note that the Ombudsman are there to deal with concerns about the level of service received. Where there are more serious concerns that a solicitor or solicitor’s firm have been involved in professional misconduct then reports can also be made to the Solicitors Regulation Authority, the regulator of solicitors and solicitor firms (https://www.sra.org.uk/consumers/problems/report-solicitor). This could be for quite unusual and serious acts of misconduct such as dishonesty, taking or losing your money or treating you unfairly because of your age, a disability or other characteristic. Obviously, we do not anticipate any such problems arising and would ask that you notify the matter supervisor straight away if you have any such concerns. You can find out more about the Solicitors Regulation Authority including their contact details and professional conduct rules on their website: www.sra.org.uk.

You will not be charged for our work investigating a complaint made by you. If because of a special need, you require us to deal with your complaint or communicate with you in a particular way please let us know so that in as far as is practicable, this may be accommodated. The Legal Ombudsman is an alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) entity, whose procedures solicitors’ firms are obliged to comply.