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.

Our complaints procedure

If you have a complaint, please contact Mr Lovell Chohan or the Practice Manager in this firm. You can write to him at Lovell Chohan Solicitors, Tudor House, 44-50 Bath Road, Hounslow, Middlesex, TW3 3EB. If we have to change any of the responsibilities or the timescales set out below we will let you know and explain why.

What will happen next?

We will contact you by telephone immediately on receipt of your complaint and arrange a face to face meeting with you and attempt to informally resolve your issues. In the event that you decline a meeting we will:

1. Send you a letter acknowledging your complaint and asking you to confirm or explain the details set out within two working days of us receiving the complaint. We will also let you know the name of the person who will be dealing with your complaint.

2. Record your complaint in our central register and open a separate folder within your file for your complaint. We will do this within a day of receiving your complaint.

3. Start to investigate your complaint. This will normally involve the following steps.

We will pass your complaint to Mr Lovell Chohan, our Client Care supervisor, and within three days will do the following, in addition to the above:

• Ask the member of staff who acted for you to reply to your complaint within 5 working days.

• Examine their reply and the information in your complaint file.

• If necessary, Mr Chohan will speak to the relevant member of staff.

This will take up to three working days from receiving the member of staff’s reply and the complete file.

4. Mr Lovell Chohan will invite you to a meeting and discuss and hopefully resolve your complaint, within three working days.

5. Within two working days of the meeting you will be written to confirming what took place and any solutions that have been agreed with you.

6. If you do not want a meeting or if it is not possible, you will be sent a detailed reply to your complaint. This will include any suggestions for resolving the matter. This will be completed within five working days of completing the investigation.

7. At this stage, if you are still not satisfied you should contact us again. We will then arrange to review our decision. This will happen in one of the following ways.

• Another director or Senior Solicitor of the firm will review Mr Lovell Chohan’s decision within 10 working days.

• We will ask our local Law Society or another local firm of solicitors to review your complaint within five working days. We will let you know how long this process will take.

• We will invite you to agree to independent mediation within five working days. We will let you know how long this process will take.

8. If you are still not satisfied, you can contact:

Legal Ombudsman

PO Box 6806,

Wolverhampton,

WV1 9WJ

about your complaint. Any complaint to the Legal Ombudsman must usually be made within six months of the date of our final written response on your complaint but for further information, you should contact the Legal Ombudsman on 0300 555 0333 or at enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk.

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

You may also choose to make a report to the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA). This could be if you are concerned about our professional behaviour or conduct, such as for things like dishonesty, deliberately overcharging you, or treating you unfairly because of a characteristic such as your age, sex or a disability.

You can find out how to make a report at https://www.sra.org.uk/consumers/problems/report-solicitor or contact the SRA at their details below:

Solicitors Regulation Authority,
The Cube,
199 Wharfside Street,
Birmingham,
B1 1RN
Tel: 0370 606 2555