Complaints Policy | Swayne Johnson Solicitors North Wales & Chester
swayne johnson logo

Swayne Johnson Complaints Policy

Our complaints policy

We are committed to providing a high-quality legal service to all our clients.  When something goes wrong, we need you to tell us about it.  This will help us to improve our standards.

If you have a complaint, please contact us with the details.

Your complaint will be referred to the line manager of the lawyer dealing with your matter who is usually the Head of Department for the type of work we are dealing with on your behalf. The name of that individual is contained in the Terms and Conditions provided to you. If the Head of Department is the lawyer dealing with your matter, your complaint will be referred to another director or to the Managing Director, Lynette Viney-Passig, who will refer your concerns to another director for investigation and reply.

 

What will happen next?

 

  1. We will send you a letter acknowledging receipt of your complaint within three working days of receiving it, enclosing a copy of this procedure.
  2. Your complaint will then be investigated and we will respond to you within the next 14 days. If it is not possible to investigate your complaint fully within this period, you will be advised accordingly within that period and informed when you may expect to receive a substantive response.
  3. The Head of Department/Director dealing with your complaint may, during the course of the review, need to refer to and discuss the matter with the person complained of and examine the file, before writing to you before the expiration of the period referred to at item 2 above. If the investigation takes longer, due to either the nature of the complaint or the level of correspondence to read through and any complexities, then you will receive an interim response explaining the position. Before the expiry of 4 weeks from the end of the period referred to at item 2 above, the Head of Department / Director investigating your complaint will provide you with a full response on the outcome of his/her investigation. If it is not possible to provide a substantive response within that period, you will be advised of this and a revised indication of when you may expect such a response. In any event this will not be beyond 8 weeks from the period mentioned in 2 above.
  4. It may be necessary, subject to the needs and the practicalities of the investigation, for the investigator to meet with you to discuss your complaint. That being the case, you will be invited to meet him/her at a mutually convenient time, date and place.
  5. After you have received a substantive response, if you are still not satisfied, you should contact us again and we will arrange for the Managing Director, Lynette Viney-Passig or another Director unconnected with the matter at the firm to review the decision.
  6. We will write to you within 28 days of receiving your request for a review, confirming our final position on your complaint and explaining our reasons.
  7.  If you are still not satisfied, or your complaint has not been dealt with within 8 weeks of your complaint being received, you can contact:

Legal Ombudsman,
PO Box 6167
Slough
SL1 0EH

Any complaint to the Legal Ombudsman must usually be made within six months of the date of our final written response. Your complaint should be sent to the Legal Ombudsman within 1 year from the date of the problem which caused the complaint, or within 1 year from the date when you should have realised that there was cause for complaint. For further information, you should contact the Legal Ombudsman on 0300 555 0333 or at enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk.

Alternative complaints bodies (such as ProMediate of Brow Farm, Top Road, Frodsham WA6 6SP) exist which are competent to deal with complaints about legal services should you and our firm wish to use such a scheme.

If we have to change any of the timescales above, we will let you know and explain why.