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Complaints Procedure

 

In the first instance it may be helpful to contact the person who is working on your case to discuss your concerns and we will do our best to resolve any issues at this stage. If however you would like to make a formal complaint, then you can read our full complaints procedure below.  Please be assured that making a complaint will not affect how we handle your case.

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SBL Solicitors is 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.

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The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) can help you if you are concerned for matters such as dishonesty, taking or losing your money or treating you unfairly because of your age, a disability or other characteristic. 

 

Our Complaints Policy

 

If you have a complaint, please contact Ms Sharn Deep Birk, Director/Solicitor. You can write to her at SBL Solicitors, Suite 9, The Saturn Centre, Challenge Way, Blackburn. BB1 5QB.

 

What will happen next?

 

1. Within three working days we will send you a letter acknowledging your complaint and asking you to confirm or explain any details. Your file(s) and any other documentation relevant to your complaint will be reviewed.

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2. Your complaint will be recorded in our central register and a file opened for your complaint.

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3. If it seems appropriate we will suggest a meeting at this stage. We would hope to be in a position to meet with you in this way no longer than 14 working days after first receiving your complaint. If you would prefer not to meet, or if we cannot arrange this within an agreeable timescale, we will write to you fully setting out my views on the situation and any redress that we would feel to be appropriate.

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4. Within three working days of any meeting we will write to you to confirm what took place and any suggestions that we have agreed.

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5. At this stage, if you are still not satisfied, please let us know. We will then review our decision again.

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6. We will let you know the result of the review within five working days of the end of the review. At this time we will write to you confirming our final position on your complaint and explaining our reasons.

 

What do to if we cannot resolve your complaint?

 

If you are still not satisfied, you can then contact the Office for Legal Complaints about your complaint. 

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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.

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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.

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8. Ordinarily, a complainant cannot use the Legal Ombudsman unless the complainant has first used the firm’s internal complaints procedure. But a complainant can use the Legal Ombudsman if:

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a. The complaint has not been resolved to the complainant’s satisfaction within 8 weeks of first making the compliant to the firm;

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b. or an Ombudsman considers that there are exceptional reasons to consider the complaint sooner, or, without it having been made to the firm first;

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c. or where an Ombudsman considers that in-house resolution is not possible due to irretrievable breakdown in the relationship between the firm and the complainant

 

9. A complainant to the Legal Ombudsman must be one of the following:​

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a. An individual;

b. A micro-enterprise as defined in European Recommendation 2003/361/EC of 6 May 2003 (broadly, an enterprise with fewer than 10 staff and a turnover or balance sheet value not exceeding €2 million);

c. A charity with an annual income less than £1 million;

d. A club, association or society with an annual income less than £1 million;

e. A trustee of a trust with a net asset value less than £1 million;

f. or a personal representative or the residuary beneficiaries of an estate where a person with a complaint died before referring it to the Legal Ombudsman.

g. If you are not, you should be aware that you can only obtain redress by using our Complaints Handling Procedure or by mediation or arbitration, or by taking action through the Courts.

 

10. Legal Ombudsman Contact Details

 

Address:           PO Box 6806, Wolverhampton, WV1 9WJ

Telephone:       0300 555 0333

Email:               [email protected]

Website:           www.legalombudsman.org.uk

 

Please feel free to contact Ms Sharn Deep Birk at any point to discuss your complaint. We are extremely committed to providing an excellent level of service.

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