Complaints Policy

Client feedback and complaints  

We are committed to providing an excellent standard of service to our clients. We value feedback  from clients greatly because it helps us to continually improve our service. If you do not feel that you  are receiving excellent client service, or that something could be improved, please do tell us about it. If we have fallen short of the high standards we have set for ourselves then we would like the opportunity to learn from it and to put things right. 

How to give feedback or make a complaint 

Wherever possible it would be helpful if you could discuss any feedback or concerns with the lawyer dealing with your matter informally first, as they may be able to resolve your concerns without the need for a formal complaint. 

However, if the lawyer dealing cannot resolve your concern informally, or if the issue is of such a serious or sensitive nature that you do not feel comfortable raising it with them, please feel welcome  to raise your concerns with our Complaints Manager, Mary Miah as a complaint under this policy. 

How to make a complaint under this policy 

This complaints policy aligns with the Legal Ombudsman Model Complaints Resolution Procedure, which is a framework to help law firms ensure that complaints are handled quickly, consistently and  fairly. The Legal Ombudsman publishes information to help consumers understand the process, which can be accessed on the Legal Ombudsman website via this address: 

https://www.legalombudsman.org.uk/for-consumers/model-complaints-resolution-procedure/    

To enable us to investigate and provide a thorough response to your concerns, we will need to form a good understanding of the issues. We would welcome hearing from you by email or by post with a  brief explanation of: 

• Why you feel dissatisfied with the service you have received. 
• How you would prefer to be contacted about your complaint going forward. • If there is anything in particular that you would like us to do to resolve your complaint. Please address your concerns to: 

mary.miah@mkksolicitors.co.uk 

Holdsworth House 5th Floor, 65-73 Staines Road, Hounslow, England, TW3 3HW 

If you would prefer not to, or would find it difficult to, send written details of your complaint in this  way, please call 0208 037 5075 to speak to our Complaints Manager, Mary Miah so that we can  discuss the best way for you to give us an understanding of your concerns (for example, by phone,  in a face-to-face meeting or video call). 

If there are any other reasonable adjustments that we can make that would make it easier or more comfortable for you to engage with the complaints process (for example, providing information in  another format or typeface), please let us know. 

What happens after I have made a complaint under this policy?  

Once we have received your complaint, we will: 

• Send a written acknowledgement of your complaint within five working days of receiving it.  
• If we are unsure, we may ask you to clarify whether your complaint relates to data protection  concerns, or other service issues. If your complaint relates to data protection issues, the firm may refer you to our specific data protection complaints procedure. 
• Let you know promptly if we need any further information from you to help us understand your  concerns or to assist our investigation and provide you with updates on the progress of your  complaint every two weeks. 
• Once we have the information we need, we will investigate your concerns diligently, impartially and fairly.  
• This may include first considering whether your concerns can be resolved quickly, without  going through a full formal investigation process. This may include arranging a discussion  with you to try to agree how to resolve the issues. We call this “early resolution” and, if we  explore this option with you, it will not take longer than ten working days. 
• If that is not appropriate in your case, or does not succeed in resolving your concerns, we will conduct a full investigation. This will involve reviewing your matter file and related records in detail, discussing the issues with the team who have been working on your  matter, and may include arranging a further discussion with you. 
• Write to you to confirm how we were able to resolve your complaint quickly through early  resolution or, if that has not been appropriate in your case, or has not succeeded in resolving  your concerns, setting out the conclusion of our full investigation and any proposals to rectify or  resolve the matter. This letter is referred to as our Final Response to your complaint. 
• Although the required information is set out in this complaints procedure, at the end of our  complaints process we will remind you of what you can do if you are unhappy with the outcome,  that you may be entitled to refer your complaint to the Legal Ombudsman or another body, and  how to do so. 
• Ask you to let us know whether we have succeeded in resolving your concerns and, if you  accept any proposals made, we will fulfil the proposals promptly. 

There is no fee for making a complaint and we will not charge you for investigating and responding to your concerns. 

Your complaint will be investigated and handled independently of your legal matter. This means that if your legal matter is ongoing it will continue to progress as normal and will not be affected or  disadvantaged by the complaints process, assuming no conflict of interests has arisen and that you continue to comply with the terms of our engagement as set out in our engagement letter and terms  of business. 

If the full impact or effect of the issues you are complaining about will not be clear until some future  date (for example, the completion of your matter) the best way forward may be to postpone.

investigating your complaint until that time. If we consider that this is the best approach to take in your case, we will contact you to discuss this and agree a way forward. 

Do I have to pay my bill if I am complaining? 

Our terms of business provide that our invoices remain payable within 30 days regardless of the investigation of any complaint.  

However, please be assured that if the outcome of any complaint investigation concludes that any adjustment or reduction in costs should be made, any reimbursement will be paid promptly at that time. 

How long will it take? 

We will aim to conclude our consideration of your complaint and provide you with our Final  Response as quickly as possible. Although we will always aim for sooner, the process may take up to eight weeks from receipt of your complaint. 

In exceptional circumstances it may be necessary to extend these timescales. If this occurs, we will  let you know in writing and will try to agree any extension of time with you first. We will provide you with updates on the progress of your complaint every two weeks. 

However, if your complaint is not resolved within eight weeks, you may be entitled to refer the  matter to the Legal Ombudsman at that time, even if you have not yet received our Final Response. 

What might the outcome of my complaint be? 

We regret any dissatisfaction which our clients experience and, if our investigation concludes that  our service has fallen below our usual high standards, we will not hesitate to apologise. We may  also make any proposals that we consider appropriate to resolve or improve your situation.  Depending on the circumstances this may include, for example, an offer of compensation, reduced  fees, further assistance or other proposals. These are only examples and may not be relevant or  appropriate in all cases.  

We will also take steps internally to ensure that any problems that you have experienced will not reoccur.  

What if I remain dissatisfied? 

If you remain dissatisfied after receiving our Final Response, or in the unlikely event that you have  not received a Final Response within eight weeks of receiving your complaint, you may be entitled  to complain to the Legal Ombudsman about our service. The Legal Ombudsman will normally  expect you to have exhausted this complaints procedure or the eight week time period before  referring to them.  

The Legal Ombudsman investigates complaints independently and accessing the service will not  affect how we handle your case (if ongoing).  

Most private individuals and smaller organisational or business clients will be able to make use of  the Legal Ombudsman scheme. However, there are some restrictions for larger organisational and business clients. These are set out in the Scheme Rules, which can be accessed on the Legal  Ombudsman website, details of which are given below. 

Time limits apply to the service, so if you do wish to refer your complaint to the Legal Ombudsman  you should not delay once our own complaints process has concluded and your have received our Final Response. In certain circumstances the Legal Ombudsman may exercise discretion to consider a complaint out of time.  

The general rule is that you must take your complaint to the Legal Ombudsman within six months of receiving a Final Response to your complaint and either: 

• Within one year of the date of the act or omission, or 
• Within one year of you realising that you had concerns. 

Contacting the Legal Ombudsman 

You can contact the Legal Ombudsman or find further information about who can use their service  and when, via the details set out below.  

www.legalombudsman.org.uk 

T 0300 555 0333 between 9.00 am to 5.00 pm 

E enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk 

Post Legal Ombudsman, PO Box 6167, Slough, SL1 0EH 

Complaints about your bill 

If you are complaining about our bill, in addition to referring your complaint to the Legal  Ombudsman, you may be entitled to ask the court to assess your costs under Part III of the  Solicitors Act 1974. However, be aware that if you have done so, the Legal Ombudsman may not be able to consider a complaint about the same issues. 

Concerns about professional misconduct 

The Legal Ombudsman service considers complaints about the quality of legal services that clients  receive. In the unlikely event that you have more serious concerns that a lawyer or the firm have  been involved in professional misconduct, it may be appropriate for you to refer this to the Solicitors  Regulation Authority.  

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 the Standards and Regulations that govern the  conduct of solicitors and law firms on their website: www.sra.org.uk.  

Information about how to report a concern is provided at: 

www.sra.org.uk/consumers/problems/report-solicitor

Concerns about data protection 

[If the complaint about which you remain unsatisfied relates to data protection concerns, you are  entitled to refer the matter to the Information Commission’s Office (ICO) (formerly the Information  Commissioner’s Office). The ICO website includes guidance and an online form for referring matters  to them. The ICO’s website address and contact details are: 

www.ico.org.uk 

T: 0303 123 1113 

Post: Information Commission’s Office, 4th Floor, No.3 Circle Square, 5 Hawkshaw Street,  Manchester, M1 7BL 

Alternative dispute resolution (ADR) 

Other ADR services providers exist that are competent to deal with complaints in the legal sector if the parties agree to use them, including ProMediate. However, we believe that the Legal  Ombudsman offers our clients the most appropriate forum to seek resolution of their concerns. Therefore, we have not adopted an alternative ADR procedure and do not agree to use another  ADR organisation.