Complaints

We are committed to providing a high-quality legal service to all our clients. We hope that you will never have reason to complain about our service to you or about a bill that we send you. However, if something does go wrong, please bring it to our attention as soon as possible. We will try to resolve the matter fairly and quickly.

How do I complain?

If you have a complaint, please refer to the letter of engagement that you were sent at the start of your matter. That will give the name of the person with overall responsibility for supervision of your matter. In the first
instance, you should address your complaint to that person. They will be a partner and normally the head of
department. In many cases they will be able to find a swift resolution to your complaint without the need for a
formal process.

We prefer that substantial or complicated complaints are set out in writing. However, we realise that not all clients may be able to formulate a detailed letter. In such cases, a telephone call will suffice, during which we will make a note of the issues and send that to you for comment. This document will then form the basis of the complaint.

The person dealing with your complaint will inform Andrew Holt, who is the firm’s Complaints Manager, that a
complaint has been made. He will record that fact on our complaints register and monitor progress of the
complaint.

We hope that this simple procedure will deal with your concerns. However, if it does not do so you should write
to Andrew Holt.  His email address is Andrew.Holt@coolebevis.com If the complaint relates to Andrew Holt, it will be dealt with by Jonathan Everett.  His email address is Jonathan.Everett@coolebevis.com

What will happen next?

1. We will send you a letter acknowledging receipt of your complaint within 5 days of receiving it.
2. We will then investigate your complaint. This will normally involve a review of your matter and a discussion with the member of staff who acted for
you and with anyone else involved.
3. We may need further information or documents from you. If so, we will ask you to provide the information within a specific period of time.
4. We may also invite you to a meeting to discuss your complaint. You do not have to attend if you do not wish to or if you are unable to do so. We will be
happy to discuss the matter with you over the telephone.
5. At the end of our investigation, we will send you a detailed written reply to your complaint, including any suggestions for resolving the matter. Where possible, we aim to do this within 21 days of the date of our letter of acknowledgement. If the complaint is complicated, and further time is needed, we will write to tell you and set another time limit.
6. At this stage if you are still not satisfied you should contact us again and we will arrange for another
manager to review the decision. This will normally be Andrew Holt, the firm’s Complaints Manager, unless
there is a good reason why it is inappropriate for him to be involved.
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.
8. If you are still not satisfied you can ask the Legal Ombudsman to look into your complaint.
9. The Legal Ombudsman’s contact details are below:
   PO Box 6167
   Slough SL1 0EH
10. Telephone: 0300 555 0333, or Email: enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk

The Ombudsman will allow us a period of 8 weeks to resolve your complaint. The Ombudsman expects complaints to be made to them within one year of the act or omission about which you are concerned or within one year of you realising there was a concern and within six months of receiving a final response from the firm. Further details are available on the website: www.legalombudsman.org.uk

What will it cost?

We will not charge you for handling your complaint. However please note that if we have issued a bill for work
done on the matter, and all or some of the bill is not paid, we may be entitled to charge interest on the amount
outstanding.

What to do if you are unhappy with our behaviour?

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 the Solicitors Regulation Authority.

Complaints regarding a data subject request under the GDPR are dealt with in accordance with this policy but should be referred to our Data Protection Officer, Jonathan Everett. He is a Partner based in our Worthing office; his email is jonathan.everett@coolebevis.com