OUR COMPLAINTS PROCEDURE

We are confident that we will provide you with a high level of professional service throughout however from time to time you may have concerns about us or our work.

If you are unhappy with any aspect of our service, or the Bill and cannot resolve it with myself, you are free to raise this matter with the Client Complaints Handler, Miss Ashrat Khan.

If you have a complaint, please contact us with the details in writing.

What will happen next?

We will send you a letter acknowledging receipt of your complaint within three days of us receiving the complaint, enclosing a copy of this Complaints Procedure.
We will then investigate your complaint. This will normally involve passing your complaint to our Client Care Partner, Miss Ashrat Khan, who will review your matter file and speak to the member of staff who acted for you.

You may contact Ashrat Khan at M & K Solicitors, 278 Dunstable Road, Luton, Beds, LU4 8JN

Telephone – 01582 732 503 Email – ashratkhan@mandksolicitors.com
We will then investigate your complaint. This will normally involve passing your complaint to our Client Care Partner, Miss Ashrat Khan, who will review your matter file and speak to the member of staff who acted for you.

Miss Ashrat Khan will then invite you to a meeting to discuss and hopefully resolve your complaint. She will do this within 14 days of sending you the acknowledgement letter.

Within three days of the meeting, Miss Ashrat Khan will write to you to confirm what took place and any solutions she has agreed with you.

If you do not want a meeting or it is not possible, Miss Ashrat Khan will send you a detailed written reply to your complaint, including her suggestions for resolving the

matter, within 21 days of sending you the acknowledgement letter.

At this stage, if you are still not satisfied, you should contact us again and we will arrange for another partner or someone unconnected with the matter at the firm to review the decision.

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.

If you remain dissatisfied at the end of our complaints process, you would then be at liberty to contact the Legal Ombusdman, details as follows:

• Legal Ombudsman PO Box 6167 Slough SL1 0EH. Their telephone number is 0300 555 0333.
• Their email address is enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk.
• Their website is at www.legalombudsman.org.uk.

The Legal Ombudsman is a statutory body to whom you may refer your complaint once we have concluded our professional obligation in trying to resolve the matter.
From 1 April 2023, the time limits for referring a complaint to the Legal Ombudsman will be not later than:

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

A complainant to the Legal Ombudsman must be one of the following:

• An individual;

• A micro-enterprise as defined in European Recommendation 2003/361/EC of 6 May 2003 (broadly, an enterprise with fewer than 10 staff and a turnover or balance sheet value not exceeding £2 million);

• A charity with an annual income less than £1 million;
• A club, association or society with an annual income less than £1 million;
• A trustee of a trust with a net asset value less than £1 million; or a personal representative or the residuary beneficiaries of an estate where a person with a complaint died before referring it to the Legal Ombudsman.

If you do not fall into any of the above categories, you should be aware that you can only obtain redress by using our Complaints Handling Procedure or by mediation or arbitration, or by taking action through the Courts.

Kindly note that you have the right to object to your Bill by making a complaint to the

appropriate body referred to above and/or by applying to the Court for an assessment of the Bill under Part III of the Solicitor’s Act 1974 and, if all or part of our Bill remains unpaid, we may be entitled to charge interest.

COMPLAINT TO THE SRA

Details of how you can raise your concerns with the Solicitors Regulation Authority can be found on their website. Please note that the SRA is concerned with breaches of professional standards rather than concerns about the level of service.

The Firm maintains professional indemnity insurance in accordance with the rules of the Solicitors Regulation Authority. Details of the insurers and the territorial coverage of the policy are available for inspection at our offices.