Issues & Complaints

We aim to deal with any complaints promptly, fairly, openly and effectively.

Our definition of a complaint is:

“any written or verbal expression of dissatisfaction referred to any person in our organisation by a client."

A complaint can be identified through a letter, telephone call, e-mail, and fax or in the course of a face to face conversation.

A complaint may involve:

Dissatisfaction with the handling of a case;
Disappointment with an alleged lack of communication;
Frustration with an alleged lack of case progress;
An allegation of discrimination; or
Dissatisfaction with the outcome of the case.

However, issues of a very minor nature, for example, not returning a non-urgent telephone call until the following day will not be recorded as a complaint.

It is the policy of the firm that:

We inform clients in writing at the outset of their matter of their right to complain and how complaints can be made.

We also inform clients in writing, both at the outset of their matter and at the conclusion of our complaints procedure (where the complaint has not been settled or dealt with to a client’s satisfaction) of their right to complain to the Legal Ombudsman, the time frame for doing so and full details of how to contact the Legal Ombudsman.

Our complaints procedure is as follows:

STEP

If you have not already done so, please let Mr Nadeem Ullah know the full nature of the problem. Ideally, we would prefer that your complaint be confirmed in writing in order that any scope for misunderstanding can be avoided. However, this is not obligatory and you are welcome to provide the details to us over the telephone or face to face. If you are setting out your concerns in writing then you can do this by emailing us at nadeem@abbeysolicitors.co.uk or writing to us at 1 Christie Way, Manchester, Greater Manchester, M21 8QY.

STEP

The complaints handler will write to you acknowledging your complaint within seven working days. In this letter, we shall confirm what happens next.

STEP

The complaints handler will then investigate the matter by reviewing the matter file and speaking to the member of staff concerned within ten working days of acknowledging receipt of your complaint. If, for some reason, the matter cannot be investigated in this timeframe, then we will write to you notifying you of this together with the reason why and giving a revised timescale. Once the investigation has been completed, if appropriate and necessary, we shall invite you to discuss the issue(s) you have raised and hopefully resolve the complaint. This could be a meeting, video conference call or telephone call and we can discuss your preference and what may be suitable at that time. This process of engagement will take place within ten working days of our concluding the investigation of the matter. We shall write to you within five working days of any meeting or call to confirm our discussion and the solution agreed upon and/or any final redress that is offered. Alternatively, if a meeting is not required or you do not want to or are unable to attend such a meeting or you would prefer to continue to correspond by letter or email, we will send you a detailed, written response, including a proposed solution, within fifteen working days of us concluding the investigation.

STEP

If you are satisfied with our response following the above steps, that will be the end of the matter. However, if you are not satisfied, you should contact us again and we will review our decision or, depending on the circumstances, we will arrange for a member of staff who is unconnected with the matter to review the decision. We will write to you within ten working days of receiving your request with confirmation of the firm's final position in relation to your complaint, outlining the reasons and any final redress that is offered.

STEP

You must always try complaining to us first. In most cases you will not be able to take your complaint further without allowing us the opportunity to put things right.

Legal Ombudsman

We are permitted a period of eight weeks to consider the complaint. If for any reason we are unable to resolve the problem between us within that timeframe, then you may ask the Legal Ombudsman to consider the complaint.

You are free to refer any complaint about our work, fees or level of service but there are some conditions and time limits. Please be aware that any complaint to the Legal Ombudsman must usually be made within six months of you having received a final written response from us about your complaint.

Complaints to the Legal Ombudsman must usually be made within one year of the act or omission about which you are complaining occurring; or within one year from when you should have known about or become aware that there were grounds for complaint.

For further information, please contact the Legal Ombudsman on 0300 555 0333 or visit www.legalombudsman.org.uk. The Legal Ombudsman may be contacted at PO Box 6806, Wolverhampton WVl 9WJ.

Solicitors Regulation Authority

If you think a solicitor might be dishonest or have concerns about their ethics or integrity, you also have the right to notify our regulator, the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA). There are no time limits for making a report but there are limits on what the SRA will consider. Please note that the SRA is not able to deal with issues of poor service (complaints of this nature should instead be referred to the Legal Ombudsman). For further information about the SRA's role, please contact the SRA or visit: www.sra.org.uk

Magistrates/ Crown Court

Where Nadeem Ullah identifies a potential negligence claim or where a client, claims financial loss, compensation or threatens legal action, the case must in conjunction with our insurers, decide whether we should continue with this complaints procedure or adopt some other course of action.

We inform clients if we discover any act or omission which could give rise to a claim by them against us but before doing so fee earners must refer any such cases to their supervisor for advice. If the supervisor agrees that the circumstances of the case could give rise to a claim then the case must be referred immediately to Nadeem Ullah who will decide, in conjunction with our insurers, what information should be provided to the client.

Nadeem Ullah will offer the client appropriate redress and recommend amendments to unsatisfactory procedures where appropriate.

Any complaints made where Nadeem Ullah had conduct of the matter are referred to Abida Kalsoum.

Nadeem Ullah keeps details of all complaints received in a central record. Copies of any documents/correspondence showing how each complaint is resolved are also retained on the central record.

As sole Director Nadeem Ullah has overall responsibility for handling complaints and carries out an analysis of the central record of complaints annually. Following this review, he decides whether any action can be taken to improve our services. The results of the review (i.e. any trends identified and action proposed) are documented.

Nadeem Ullah is responsible for the operation of this procedure. He will review it annually to verify that it is an effective operation.

What will it cost?

We will not charge you for handling your complaint.
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. This is explained in our Client Care letter and Terms of Business.
The Legal Ombudsman service is free of charge.