We are committed to providing a high-quality Legal Service to our Clients. When something goes wrong, we need you to tell us about it. This will help us to rectify any mistakes or misunderstandings and to improve our standards.
How do I complain?
You can contact our complaints manager whose contact details are;
Lynne Simpson (Managing Partner)
23 Victoria Avenue,
Bishop Auckland,
County Durham
DL14 7NE
01388 451122
Lsimpson@meikles.co.uk
What do we need to know?
To deal with your complaint correctly and efficiently, it would be helpful when contacting us if you could provide the following information;
What will happen next?
We will write to you within 3 working days acknowledging your complaint, enclosing a copy of this policy.
We will investigate your complaint. This will normally involve reviewing your file and speaking to the staff member who acted for you. If your complaint is in relation to Lynne Simpson, it will be investigated by another Partner in the firm. We will then send you a detailed reply which sets out our findings and any action plans or proposed resolutions within 21 days of sending you the acknowledgement letter.
If the initial investigation does not resolve your concerns, then you should contact Lynne Simpson again who will arrange to have her decision reviewed by another Partner and write to you within 14 days of receiving your review request, confirming our final position on your complaint, and explaining our reasons.
The Legal Ombudsman
If you are still not satisfied with our handling of your complaint, you can ask the Legal Ombudsman to investigate your complaint. You can contact the Legal Ombudsman via the following:
· Phone: 0300 5550333
· Email: enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk
· Post: Legal Ombudsman, PO Box 6167, Slough, SL1 0EH
The Legal Ombudsman expects complaints to be made to them within 1 year of the date of the act or omission of which you are concerned, or within 1 year of you realising there was a concern. You must also refer your concerns to the Legal Ombudsman within 6 months of our final response to you.
Raising Concerns if you are happy with our behaviour
The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) can help you if you are concerned with our Regulator. This could be for things like dishonesty, taking or losing your money, or treating you unfairly because of your age, disability, or any other characteristic. You can contact the SRA at;
Solicitors Regulation Authority
The Cube
199 Wharfside Street
Birmingham
B1 1RN
0370 606 2555
Or Alternatively via their website https://www.sra.org.uk/
