TEL: 029 2050 4101
Please complete the enquiry form below and we will get back to you as soon as possible, or you can email your enquiry directly to us: contact@mansfieldfellowes.co.uk
Mansfield Fellowes Solicitors
Regus House
Falcon Drive
Cardiff Bay
Cardiff
CF10 4RU
Tel: (029) 2050 4101
Fax: (029) 2050 4001
CONTACT US
ADDRESS
Making a complaint
We want to give you the best possible service. However, if at any point you become unhappy or concerned about the service we have provided then you should inform us immediately, so that we can do our best to resolve the problem.
If you would like to make a formal complaint, then you can read our full complaints procedure which is set out below. Making a complaint will not affect how we handle your case.
What to do if we cannot resolve your complaint:
The Legal Ombudsman can help you if we are unable to resolve your complaint ourselves. They will look at your complaint independently and it will not affect how we handle your case.
Before accepting a complaint for investigation, the Legal Ombudsman will check that you have tried to resolve your complaint with us first. If you have, then you must take your complaint to the Legal Ombudsman:
· Within six months of receiving a final response to your complaint
and
· No more than six years from the date of act/omission; or
· No more than three years from when you should reasonably have known there was cause for complaint.
If you would like more information about the Legal Ombudsman, please contact them.
Contact details
Visit: www.legalombudsman.org.uk
Call: 0300 555 0333 between 9.00 to 17.00.
Email: enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk
Legal Ombudsman PO Box 6806, Wolverhampton, WV1 9WJ
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.
Our Complaint’s Procedure
We are committed to providing a high-quality legal service to all our clients.
When something goes wrong, we need you to tell us about it. This will help us to improve our standards.
We are authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA). We are committed to high quality legal advice and client care and aim to offer all our clients a professional, friendly, efficient and effective service. However, if our clients would like to discuss how the service to them could be improved, the level of their bill, or should there be any aspect of our service with which they are not satisfied, we ask them to please contact the person in our firm responsible for complaints handling, Rebecca Mansfield Fellowes (“Complaints Handler”) on 029 20504101 or rmf@mansfieldfellowes.co.uk or by post to Mansfield Fellowes Solicitors, Regus House, Falcon Drive, Cardiff Bay CF10 4RU.
We are committed to high quality legal advice and client care and are keen to resolve any concerns as soon as possible and in order to do this, will follow our complaints handling procedure.
Our complaints procedure is as follows:
Step One:
If they have not already done so, we ask our clients to let us know the full nature of the problem. In the first instance this should be to the Complaints Handler.
Step Two:
We will write to the client acknowledging their complaint within 5 working days. In this letter, we shall confirm what happens next.
Step Three:
Our Complaints Handler (or at our discretion, we may chose to instruct an independent consultant) will then investigate the matter by reviewing the matter file and speaking to the member of staff concerned within 10 working days of acknowledging receipt of the complaint. If, for some reason, the matter cannot be investigated in this timeframe, then we will write to the client notifying them of this together with the reason why and giving a revised timescale.
Once the investigation has been completed, the client will be invited to a meeting to discuss the issue(s) they have raised and hopefully resolve the complaint. This meeting will take place within 5 working days of completion of the investigation. Following the meeting, we will write to the client within 5 working days of the meeting to confirm the discussion and any solution agreed upon.
If the client does not want to or is unable to attend such a meeting (or a meeting is not necessary), we will be happy to send the client a detailed, written response, including the proposed solution, within 21 days of sending the letter acknowledging receipt of the complaint.
Step Four:
If the client is satisfied with our response following the above steps, that will be the end of the matter. However, if the client is not satisfied, they will be invited to contact our Complaints Handler again and we will arrange for an independent consultant, to review the decision. They will write to the client within 14 days of receiving the request with confirmation of the firm’s final position in relation to the complaint, outlining the reasons and any final redress that is offered.
Step Five:
Clients must always try complaining to us first. In most cases they will not be able to take their 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 our clients are advised that they may ask the Legal Ombudsman to consider the complaint.
Clients 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 12 months of the client having received a final written response from us about their complaint. Complaints to the Legal Ombudsman must usually be made within six years of the act or omission about which the client is complaining occurring; or within three years from when the client should have known about or become aware that there were grounds for complaint. The Legal Ombudsman will not accept complaints where the act or date of awareness was before 6 October 2010.
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 WV1 9WJ.
Solicitors Regulation Authority
If someone thinks a solicitor might be dishonest or you have concerns about their ethics or integrity, they 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 “SRA Report a Solicitor” on www.sra.org.uk/consumers/problems/report-solicitor
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 the Legal Ombudsman considers there are exceptional circumstances (e.g. 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.
Further Information
For further information about our complaints handling procedures, please do not hesitate to contact Rebecca Mansfield Fellowes 029 20504101 or rmf@mansfieldfellowes.co.uk or by post to Mansfield Fellowes Solicitors, Regus House, Falcon Drive, Cardiff Bay CF10 4RU.