Complaints policy
Cole Khan Solicitors LLP is committed to providing a high-quality service to all our clients. This includes a commitment to putting things right when they go wrong.
If you are unhappy about any aspect of the service you have received or about your invoice, please contact Emilie Cole who is a Partner and acts as our Complaints Partner on emiliecole@colekhan.co.uk, or by post to our office 5 Chancery Lane, London WC2A 1LG. It is helpful if you put your concerns in writing, but if you would prefer not to, or if you would find it difficult to do so, Emilie Cole can be contacted by phone on 0207 406 7440.
If you need us to make any adjustments to the way that we communicate with you, for example due to disability, please let us know.
We hope that you will not need to complain about our service and wish to work with you throughout our relationship to ensure that your aims are met. We value all feedback, positive and otherwise, so we take your comments and concerns raised with us very seriously.
We will never charge you for dealing with a complaint.
Initial Stage
In the first instance, it is helpful to contact the Solicitor who is working on your case to discuss your concerns directly and we will do our best to resolve any issues.
Formal Stage
If you would like to make a formal complaint, then our procedure is set out below. Making a complaint will not affect how we handle your case.
Acknowledge the complaint in writing and send a copy of the complaints procedure -within two working days
Invite you to a meeting or to discuss the issues by telephone if we feel that this is helpful– within two working days
Confirm the outcome of the meeting or telephone conversation in writing – within three working days of the meeting/telephone conversation.
Investigate the issues – within 14 days of receiving the complaint
If a meeting/telephone discussion is not possible or required – we will investigate the issues and write to you with the outcome within 21 days
Review and close the complaint – within 8 weeks of receiving the complaint
If we have to revise any of the above timescales, we will let you know.
What to do if we cannot resolve your complaint?
If you are not satisfied with our handling of your complaint we can arrange for another solicitor, who has not been involved in the matter or in the investigation of your complaint, to consider your complaint again as an appeal mechanism before going to the Legal Ombudsman. We offer this as we are committed to resolving any concerns you may raise
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. Contact details:
Visit: www.legalombudsman.org.uk
Call: 0300 5550333 between 9.00 to 17.00
Email: enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk
Post: Legal Ombudsman PO Box 6806, Wolverhampton, WV1 9WJ
If you are a consumer, you will automatically be eligible for the Legal Ombudsman scheme as are most small businesses or organisations (such as a Trust or Charity) which through their limited turnover qualify for access to the Legal Ombudsman scheme. The Legal Ombudsman may help you assess if you qualify or not. If you are a larger business and excluded by the Legal Ombudsman from using its service, we will try and find an alternative method to assist us in resolving your concerns.
Alternative Dispute Resolution
Alternative complaints handling bodies such as ProMediate are competent to deal with complaints about legal services if you wish use such a scheme and if we also agree to do so.
What to do if you are unhappy with our behaviour?
In the highly unlikely event your complaint is not about our service but is about our conduct you should contact Shazia Khan our Compliance Officer for Legal Practice who would deal with any such issues under the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) scheme. Please note the SRA deals with conduct issues rather than the Legal Ombudsman which deals with service issues. Alternatively, you may visit the SRA’s website to see how you can raise concerns with them.
Finally, please be assured if you complain to us, we will try and resolve matters if we can.
May 2021