Complaints Procedure

Complaints Procedure

You may have asked for our complaints procedure, or you may be receiving this because you have experienced a problem with our service.

If you have experienced a problem, thank you for bringing your concerns to our attention.  We will do our best to address any dissatisfaction that you have experienced in using the services of this firm. Our primary objective is to put things right.

Our complaints policy

We are committed to providing a high-quality service to our clients.  This includes a commitment to putting things right when they go wrong.  This policy explains how we will deal with any complaint.

Our complaints procedure 

Our complaints Director is Ian Austen-Jones]. You can contact him by post at our head office 145 Upland Road, London SE22 0DF, or by e-mail at iaj@austenjonessolicitors.co.uk. It is helpful if you put your concerns into writing, but if you would prefer not to, or if you would find it difficult to do so, he can be contacted by phone at 020 8693 0900.

If you have special needs which we should take into account due to language or disability, please let us know.

To explain to you how long our process might take we have included our target times for each stage of the process. Where, for any reason, it is not possible to observe any of these limits we will let you know and explain why.

Use of technology in complaints submissions

Clients are entitled to raise complaints in any reasonable written form, including with the assistance of technology. However, to enable the firm to deal with complaints fairly, efficiently and proportionately, complainants are encouraged to set out their concerns clearly, concisely and with reference to the specific issues they wish the firm to address.

Where complaints are submitted in an excessively long, repetitive or unfocused format, including where automated or AI-generated text is used, the firm may summarise the complaint into identifiable issues and respond to those issues rather than addressing each point individually.

If a complaint is unclear or unmanageably broad, the firm may request clarification or prioritisation of the key concerns before completing its review. This approach is intended to support effective consideration of complaints and does not limit a client’s right to raise concerns or to escalate a complaint in accordance with this policy.

Legal Ombudsman

 If you do not agree with the outcome of our complaints process, or we fail to investigate in accordance with our Policy, then you can have the complaint independently looked at by the Legal Ombudsman. The Legal Ombudsman investigates complaints about service issues with lawyers. Complaints to the Legal Ombudsman must usually be made within six months of our final response to your complaint.

The Legal Ombudsman expects complaints to be made to them within one year of the date of the act or omission about which you are concerned or within one year of you realising there was a concern. You must also refer your concerns to the Legal Ombudsman within six months of our final response to you.

The address is PO Box 6167, Slough SL1 0EH, telephone 0300 555 0333 or email enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk

You may alternatively contact the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) if you have concerns as to whether we have breached any of their professional rules for solicitors. These will be found at www.sra.org.uk/solicitors/standards-regulations/principles and the SRA can be contacted at The Cube, 199 Wharfside Street, Birmingham B1 1RN, or by email to  contactcentre@sra.org.uk.

Thank you for bringing your concerns to our attention.  We will do our best to address any dissatisfaction that you have experienced in using the services of this practice.