Complaints Procedure

At Hawkswell Kilvington we are committed to providing a high quality service to all our clients. Dealing effectively with any concerns is part of that commitment. Therefore, if you have any concerns about the service you receive, we need you to tell us about it. This will help us to improve our standards and ensure that you are getting the service you deserve.

Complaints procedure for clients

If you are dissatisfied with the level of service you have received, we need you to contact us so that we can find a solution to your problem. You should send details of your complaint to Thomas Salter at Hawkswell Kilvington Limited, 2nd Floor, 3150 Century Way, Thorpe Park, Leeds LS15 8ZB.  Telephone: +44 (0)113 543 6700.  Email: tsalter@hklegal.co.uk.

What will happen once we receive your complaint?

• We will send you a letter acknowledging receipt of your complaint within two working days of us receiving your complaint. If necessary, we will ask you to provide us with further details/information. We will also let you know who will be handling the matter.
• We will start to investigate your complaint. This will normally involve us reviewing the matter file and speaking with the legal adviser(s)/partner(s) who acted on your behalf.
• A full copy of our Complaints Handling Policy is available here, which provides information regarding the process and timescales.
• Following our investigation, we aim to send you a detailed response within 21 days from the date of our letter of acknowledgement, or where we have asked you for further information, within 14 days of our receiving that information from you. Our final response will state the outcome of our investigation. If we require more time to investigate the matter, we will notify you and confirm when we will contact you next.
• We have eight weeks to consider your complaint.  If we have not resolved it within this time, you may be able to have the complaint reviewed by the Legal Ombudsman.  Please note this only applies if you are an individual, a business with fewer than 10 employees and turnover or assets not exceeding a certain threshold, a charity or trust with a net income of less than £1m, or if you fall within certain other categories (you can find out more from the Legal Ombudsman).

Legal Ombudsmen

If you wish to contact the Legal Ombudsman, they will look at your complaint independently, and it will not affect how we handle your case.

Before accepting a complaint for investigation, however, the Legal Ombudsman will check that you have tried to resolve your complaint with us first. If you have, then any complaint to the Legal Ombudsman must be made:

• within six months of receiving a final response to your complaint

and

• no more than one year from the date of act/omission; or
• no more than one year from when you should reasonably have known there was cause for complaint.

If you would like more information about the Legal Ombudsman, please visit www.legalombudsman.org.uk
Address: PO Box 6167, Slough SL1 0EH
Phone: 0300 555 0333
Email: enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk

Solicitors Regulation Authority

The Solicitors Regulation Authority can help 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.

Visit their website to see how you can raise your concerns with them: www.sra.org.uk/consumers/problems/report-solicitor/
Address: The Cube, 199 Wharfside Street, Birmingham B1 1RN
Phone: 0870 606 2555
Email: report@sra.org.uk

Complaints by non-clients

If you are not a client, we will only be able to deal with your complaint if you allege that we have acted in breach of the Solicitors Regulation Authority Standards and Regulations.

Any such complaint should be marked for the attention of Thomas Salter. If the breach appears self-evident, we will not need to seek further clarification.  In all other cases, we may ask you to specify the alleged breach before we deal with your complaint.

If we agree there has been a breach, we will tell you as soon as reasonably possible and apologise. This does not affect your right to report the matter to the Solicitors Regulation Authority (see Solicitors Regulation Authority above).

Any feedback which enables us to improve our services is very welcome.