Constructive Law is committed to high quality legal advice and client care. If you are unhappy about any aspect of the service you have received and/or you would like to make a formal complaint, please contact Rebecca Palmer (Solicitor and Director of the firm) on 07533 541367 or rpalmer@constructivelaw.co.uk or by post to our registered office. We have a procedure in place which details how we handle complaints, a copy of which is available on request. Making a complaint will not affect how we handle your matter.
We have eight weeks to consider your complaint. If we have not addressed it within this time, or you remain dissatisfied with our handling of your complaint, you may complain to the Legal Ombudsman.
Normally, you will need to bring a complaint to the Legal Ombudsman within six months of receiving a final written response from us about your complaint and
(a) within one year from the date of the act or omission (about which you are complaining) occurring; or
(b) within one year of when you should reasonably have realised that there was cause for complaint.
The Legal Ombudsman will look at the complaint independently and any investigation by them will not affect how we handle your matter. Before accepting a complaint for investigation, the Legal Ombudsman will check that you have tried to resolve the complaint with us in the first instance and you have suffered significant financial loss, stress or inconvenience or detriment which deems it proportionate for them to investigate.
As well as your right to complain about any of our bills under our complaints procedure, you can also apply for the bill to be assessed by the court under Part III of the Solicitors Act 1974, in which case the Legal Ombudsman may not consider your complaint.
You should also be aware that, when your complaint relates to a bill, the Legal Ombudsman will not consider your complaint while your bill is being assessed by a court.
A complainant to the Legal Ombudsman must be one of the following:
(a) an individual;
(b) a business or 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 net of tax less than £1 million when it referred the complaint to the firm;
(d) a club, association or organisation, the affairs of which are managed by its members/a committee/a committee of its members, with an annual income net of tax less than £1 million when it referred the complaint to the firm;
(e) a trustee of a trust with a net asset value of less than £1 million when it referred the complaint to the firm; or
(f) a personal representative or beneficiary of the estate of a person who, before he/she/they died, had not referred the complaint to the Legal Ombudsman.
The complaint must relate to services which the firm:
(a) provided to you; or
(b) provided to another person who procured them on behalf of you; or
(c) provided to an estate of a person who is deceased where you are a beneficiary of that estate; or
(d) provided to (or as) trustee where you are a beneficiary of the trust; or
(e) offered, or refused to provide to you.
For more information on the Legal Ombudsman’s rules and requirements, please see their Scheme Rules dated April 2023, which are available on their website.
Legal Ombudsman Contact Details:
Address: PO Box 6167, Slough SL1 0EH
Telephone: 0300 555 0333
Email: enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk
Website: www.legalombudsman.org.uk
Constructive Law is committed to ensuring that all personnel give their full co-operation to the Legal Ombudsman in the event of any dispute or complaint against the firm.
In addition to the Legal Ombudsman, the SRA can help you if you are concerned about our behaviour. This could be for things like dishonesty, taking or losing your money or treating you unfairly because of your age, a disability or other characteristic. However, the SRA are not able to deal with issues of poor service.
Solicitors Regulation Authority Contact Details:
Address: The Cube, 199 Wharfside Street, Birmingham B1 1RN
Telephone: 0370 606 2555
Email: report@sra.org.uk (or there is a “Contact Us” form available on the website)
Website: www.sra.org.uk
