Kepler Wolf Complaints Handling Policy
We want to provide a high-quality service to all our clients, but we appreciate that we may not consistently achieve these aims. We also want to know about problems and put them right promptly, fairly and effectively.
So, we value feedback from our clients and want to learn from it.
Step one – contacting us
Please get in touch with your key partner contact in the first instance to verbally report your complaint. You may be asked to put your concerns in writing.
We cannot promise to get you a complete answer quickly in every case, as we want to understand every complaint fully, which can take time. However, we will acknowledge your complaint promptly in writing and will keep in touch to update you on progress.
Step two – our review and response
Your key partner contact or a member of the Firm will review your complaint internally and will aim to complete investigations within two weeks, but it can take longer, especially if we require further information from you, if files have been archived or if the issues are particularly complex, in which case we aim to complete an investigation within four weeks.
Your key partner contact or a member of the Firm may invite you to a meeting to discuss your complaint and the details of the investigation to attempt to resolve your complaint if possible.
If we have made an error which is negligent, then we must refer you to another lawyer and cannot advise you further. If this is the case, we will let you know and will also be obliged to notify our professional indemnity insurance underwriters.
Step three – if you are not happy with our response
We hope to resolve the problem, but if we cannot, our Complaints Partner (John Haggis) will internally review your complaint, investigation, and response. If our Complaints Partner has already been involved, as they are your key partner contact, we will ask another partner to conduct the review.
Step four – the Legal Ombudsman
If at any point you become unhappy with the service we provide, please inform us immediately so that we can do our best to resolve the problem for you.
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 one year of the date of the act or omission about which you are concerned or within one year 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.
To contact the Legal Ombudsman write to PO Box 6806, Wolverhampton, WV1 9WJ; email: enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk, or phone 0300 555 0333.
The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) can help if you are concerned about our behaviour. This could be for things like dishonesty, taking or losing your money or mistreating you because of your age, a disability or other characteristic. Visit their website to see how to raise your concerns with the Solicitors Regulation Authority.
If you wish to make a complaint relating to a bill, you must do so within one month of receiving the invoice, failing which we will be under no obligation to investigate or to attempt to resolve the complaint. You may also have the right to apply to the court for assessment of the bill under Part III of the Solicitors Act 1974 or Part 48 of the Civil Procedure Rules 1999, normally within twelve months of delivery of the bill. The Legal Ombudsman may decline to consider your complaint if you have applied to the court to assess the bill.
No charge will be made for the time spent investigating and responding to a complaint.
The Ombudsman may refer your complaint to the Solicitors Regulation Authority if they are not the correct body to conduct the investigation (for full details, please visit: http://www.legalombudsman.org.uk/).