Our Complaints Policy
We want you to be happy with the service that you have had with SM Commercial but sometimes things
do go wrong. Our Complaints Procedure is designed to help you bring your dissatisfaction
to our attention so we can look at what has happened and provide you with an explanation.
You will not be charged for the work involved in investigating a complaint made
by you.
Details of the Complaints Procedure are set out below:
Who to contact
- We have a two stage internal complaints procedure details of which appear below.
If we are unable to resolve your complaint through our internal procedures you can
then contact the Legal Ombudsman who is independent and impartial and who has official
powers to resolve complaints. Details of how to contact the Legal Ombudsman also
appear below.
- Initially you should contact the Supervisor of the person who is the subject of
your complaint. You will find the Supervisor’s details in your initial paperwork.
If you are unable to locate this information you can contact our Complaints Manager
details of whom appear below.
- Our Complaints Manager is David Harrington. He is a Solicitor and former Senior
Partner of Simpson Millar LLP, Solicitors.
- If the supervisor is unable to resolve your complaint you can then refer the complaint
to our Complaints Manager.
- If our Complaints Manager is unable to resolve your complaint you can then contact
the Legal Ombudsman.
- You can also contact the Legal Ombudsman if 8 weeks have passed since you first
made your complaint and your complaint remains unresolved.
How to make contact
- Complaints can be made by telephone, letter, fax and e-mail. Usually if your complaint
cannot be resolved by the Supervisor of the person who is the subject of your complaint
we will ask you to put your complaint in writing.
- The Supervisor of the person who is the subject of your complaint will normally
work in the same office and will be identified in your initial paperwork. If you
do not have this information please contact our Complaints Manager.
- Our Complaints Manager’s contact details are:
David Harrington
Simpson Millar LLP
21-27 St Pauls Street
Leeds, LS1 2JG
Telephone 0844 858 3200
Fax 0844 858 3299
e-mail: david.harrington@simpsonmillar.co.uk
- The Legal Ombudsman’s contact details are: The Legal Ombudsman PO Box 6806, Wolverhampton,
WV1 9WJ, Telephone 0300 555 0333, e-mail:
enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk, Website www.legalombudsman.org.uk
When to make contact
- You should contact us as soon as you have a concern about an issue.
- You should not normally contact the Legal Ombudsman until we have attempted to resolve
your complaint through our internal procedure or until 8 weeks have passed since
the date when you first made your complaint. We do not however wish to discourage
you from contacting the Legal Ombudsman for further information and advice should
you wish to do so.
- The Legal Ombudsman asks that you contact them within 6 months of your last contact
with us, failing which the Ombudsman may be unable to deal with your complaint.
- The Legal Ombudsman will not accept complaints where the matter complained of or your date of awareness of the matter was before 6 October 2010. Subject to that the Legal Ombudsman will accept complaints in respect of matters which occurred up to 6 years ago, although that 6 year period is reduced by 3 years from any date when you should have known about the matter.
Timescales
- If a complaint is made to the Supervisor of the person who is the subject of your
complaint the Supervisor will
- acknowledge your complaint within 3 working days
- provide a substantive response to your complaint within 28 days
- If a complaint is made to our Complaints Partner he will
- acknowledge your complaint within 3 working days
- provide a substantive response to your complaint within 28 days
- If we have to change any of these timescales we will let you know and explain why.
- If you complain to the Legal Ombudsman they will contact you with their timescale
for resolving your complaint.
How we deal with your complaint
- If your complaint can be resolved by the Supervisor of the person who is the subject
of your complaint this may, in simple matters, be done by telephone but will otherwise
be in writing.
- Complaints made to our Complaints Partner will normally be dealt with in writing.
- An investigation into your complaint will involve a detailed look at your paper
and/or electronic file. We will discuss your complaint with the person who is the
subject of your complaint and anyone else who may have been involved in the matter
which is the subject of your complaint.
- Our Complaints Partner will write to you with a detailed response to all aspects
of your complaint. This will include any proposals for resolution of your complaint.
- Once our Complaints Partner has written to you in an attempt to resolve your complaint
you can if you wish contact him to discuss matters further. If you are unhappy with
our proposals to resolve your complaint (or if 8 weeks have elapsed since you made
your complaint) you can at this stage contact the Legal Ombudsman. Remember to do so within 6 months of your last contact with us.
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