Complaints

The Practice regards a complaint as an oral or written expression of dissatisfaction which alleges that the complainant has suffered (or may suffer) financial loss, distress, inconvenience or other detriment.

Yes. If you are unhappy about any aspect of the service, you have received or costs relating to your matter then we want to hear about it.

Complaints can be raised in a number of ways. The Practice will allow and respond to complaints made by any reasonable means giving due consideration to the individual needs of that client. Your first contact regarding a complaint should be directly to our Practice Administration who receive initial complaints. You can do this by:

Email: complaints@kidwellssolicitors.co.uk

Letter: Complaints

 Kidwells Law Solicitors Ltd

 Kidwells House

 4 Coldnose Road

 Rotherwas Industrial Estate

 Hereford

 HR2 6JL

Phone: 01432 278179

If a complaint is made against Michael Horne, then the Complaints Handler role will be assumed by another Director.

When a complaint is first received, the firm must respond by letter within 5 working days of the day upon which we received the complaint.

Within our Client Care Pack you will have received a copy of this Complaints Procedure which advise of the complainant’s right to complain to the Legal Ombudsman. You can request a copy at any time.

The Practice will deal with the complaint as a separate matter to the instructed matter. Records of all complaints and associated documents and correspondence will be kept by the Practice and recorded on our complaints log.

The Practice will aim to resolve disputes within 8 weeks of receipt of the complaint.

The Practice will investigate the complaint fully. This will include reviewing the file and speaking to the fee earner who dealt with the matter.

After the matter has been investigated, the Practice will if appropriate invite the complainant to a meeting to discuss and hopefully resolve their complaint. Within 3 days of that meeting the Practice will write to the complainant confirming the meeting and any solutions that were agreed at it.

If the complainant does not wish to attend a meeting, the Practice will send a detailed written response to the complaint with suggestions for resolving the complaint within 8 weeks of sending the letter acknowledging the complaint.

If the complainant remains unsatisfied a Director will review the decision and may arrange to meet with them to discuss why they remain unsatisfied. Within 14 days of that review or meeting, a Director will summarise the outcome of the complaint reminding them of their right to complain to the Legal Ombudsman. This will conclude the internal complaints procedure.

We would welcome the opportunity of resolving any issues with you prior to this. You must allow us eight weeks to provide a full response to your complaint.

If you are not satisfied with our handling of your complaint you can ask the Legal Ombudsman to look at your complaint. You can do this by:

Email: enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk

Letter: Legal Ombudsman
               PO Box 6167
               Slough
               SL1 0EH

Phone: 0300 555 0333

Before 1 April 2023

If at any point you become unhappy with the service we provide to you, then please inform us immediately so that we can do our best to resolve the problem for you. You can obtain a copy of our complaints procedure by contacting: complaints@kidwellssolicitors.co.uk  or via our website.

If we are unable to resolve your complaint then you can have the complaint independently looked at by the Legal Ombudsman. The Legal Ombudsman investigates complaints about service issues with lawyers.  The Legal Ombudsman expects complaints to be made to them within six years of the date of the act or omission about which you are concerned or within three years of you realising there was a concern. You must also refer your concerns to the Legal Ombudsman within six months of our final response to you.

However, please note that from 1 April 2023 these time limits are changing.

From the 1 April the Legal Ombudsman expects complaints to be made to them within a year of the date of the act or omission about which you are concerned or within a year of you realising there was a concern. The requirement to refer your concerns to the Legal Ombudsman within six months of our final response to you remains the same.

For further information, you should contact the Legal Ombudsman on 0300 555 0333 or at www.legalombudsman.org.uk.

The Solicitors Regulating Authority only deals with complaints if a firm or someone regulated by the SRA has breached the SRA Principles. You must complain to your solicitor or the firm first before the SRA will consider your complaint. The SRA website and contact centre has further guidance on when they can and cannot support complaints. For further information you should contact the SRA through the following methods:

Website: https://www.sra.org.uk/home/contact-us/

Phone: 0370 606 2555

Letter: Solicitors Regulation Authority, The Cube, 199 Wharfside Street, Birmingham, B1 1RN

We will not consent to complaints outside of this period being dealt with by the Legal Ombudsman.