Complaints Procedure

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. You should first contact  your Primary Contact in accordance with section 4 of our Terms of Business. If you  fail to reach a satisfactory conclusion then you should then contact that person’s  Team Leader. If you wish to pursue your complaint further, please contact Charles  Tennant, our Client Care Manager. You can write to him at Warners Solicitors, 16  South Park, Sevenoaks, Kent TN13 1AN.  

What Will Happen Next? 

  1. We will send you a letter acknowledging receipt of your complaint within 3  days of receiving it. 
  2. We will then investigate your complaint. This will normally involve passing  your complaint to the Team Leader who will review your matter file and  speak to the member of staff who acted for you. 
  3. The Team Leader may then invite you to a meeting to discuss and  hopefully resolve your complaint. He/she will do this within 14 days of  sending you the acknowledgement letter. 
  4. Within 3 days of the meeting, the Team Leader will write to you to confirm  what took place and any solutions he/she has agreed with you. 
  5. If you do not want a meeting, or it is not possible, the Team Leader will  send you a detailed written reply to your complaint, including his/her  suggestions for resolving the matter within 21 days of sending you the  acknowledgement letter. 
  6. At this stage, if you are still not satisfied, you should contact us again and  we will arrange for Charles Tennant or his deputy to review the decision. 
  7. We will write to you within 14 days of receiving your request for a review  confirming our final position on your complaint and explaining our  reasons.

OM 5 August 2024 

  1. If we are not able to resolve your complaint, you do have a right to  complain to the Legal Ombudsman, an independent complaints body who  were established under the Legal Services Act 2007 to deal with legal  services complaints.  

The Ombudsman’s details are as follows:- 

Legal Ombudsman, PO Box 6167, Slough, SL1 0EH 

Telephone: 0300 555 0333 

Email address: [email protected] 

Website: www.legalombudsman.org.uk 

The time limits for the Legal Ombudsman accepting a complaint are: 

  • One year from the date of act/omission being complained about, or  • One year from when the complainant should have realised that there  was cause for complaint.  

You must refer your concerns to the Legal Ombudsman within six  months of our final response to you. 

We also need to make you aware that alternative complaints bodies do  exist which are competent to deal with complaints about legal services.  We are obliged to provide you with details of an alternative scheme upon  request but it should be noted that but we would only agree to the matter  being referred to the Legal Ombudsman. 

It should be noted that the Legal Ombudsman cannot deal with a  complaint about a bill if you have applied to the Court for assessment of  that bill. 

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