Complaints Procedure

Our complaints policy

We are committed to high quality legal advice and client care. If there is anything that is troubling you, could you please contact the person dealing with the matter straight away so that any problems or concerns can be dealt with.

Our complaints procedure

If you are unhappy about any aspect of the service you have received, or about the bill, please contact Mr. William Ransford who is our designated Complaints Handler and he can be contacted on 01686 412166 or by e-mail on william@mjjsolicitors.co.uk or by post to our office. He will deal with the matter expeditiously with a view to resolving it to your satisfaction. We have a Complaints Handling Policy in place which details how we handle complaints which is available at our office and upon request.

If, however, you remain unsatisfied with our handling of your complaint, you can ask the Legal Ombudsman at PO Box 6806, Wolverhampton WV1 9WJ (Telephone 0300 555 0333 or e-mail enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk) to consider the complaint. Normally you will need to bring a complaint to the Legal Ombudsman within six months of receiving a final written response from us about your complaint or no later than six years from when the problem occurred or three years from when you should reasonably have become aware of the problem. For the Ombudsman to deal with your complaint the problem must ordinarily have occurred after the 5th October 2010.

If the problem occurred on or before the 5th October 2010 or you should reasonably have known there was cause for complaint, on or before that date, then the Ombudsman will not usually be able to deal with your complaint.

If you are unsure about these time limits and how they apply to your matter, please contact the Legal Ombudsman’s office, using the contact details shown above, to clarify the position.

Subject to the above Scheme Rules, and the Legal Ombudsman’s discretion to extend the time limits, you will need to bring your complaint to the Legal Ombudsman:

• (a) within six months of receiving a final written response from us about your complaint; and,
• (b) no later than six years from when the problem (act or omission) occurred; or,
• (c) no later than three years from the date, you should reasonably have known that there was cause for complaint.

Please note:

• If your complaint is specifically about our bill, you have the right to object to it and apply for an assessment of it under Part III of the Solicitors Act 1974. If you should choose to exercise this right, and the Court is assessing our bill, you may be unable to use the Legal Ombudsman service.
• If you are complaining as a business client, unless you are a “micro business” (as defined by the European Union), you may not be able to use the Legal Ombudsman scheme, and should check the guidance on Legal Ombudsman’s website.
• If you refer your complaint to the Legal Ombudsman as a trustee/personal representative (executor/administrator) or beneficiary of the estate/trust of a person who, before they died, had not referred the complaint to the Legal Ombudsman the period runs from when the deceased should reasonably have known there was cause for complaint; and, when the complainant (or the deceased) should reasonably have known there was a cause for complaint will be assessed on the basis of the complainant’s (or deceased’s) own knowledge, disregarding what the complainant (or the deceased) might have been told if he/she had sought advice.
• If the Ombudsman considers there are exceptional circumstances (eg serious illness or you were still within the time limits when you made your initial complaint to them) then he/she may extend any of the above time limits to the extent that he/she considers fair.