Complaints

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.  We want to give you the best possible service. However, if at any point you become unhappy or concerned about the service provided then you should inform us immediately, so that we can do our best to resolve the problem.

If you have a complaint, please contact our Managing Director, John Egan, either by post or email at john@jelaw.co.uk.

 
What will happen next? 

1.    We will send you a letter acknowledging receipt of your complaint within four working days of receiving it, enclosing a copy of this procedure. 
2.    We will then investigate your complaint. This will normally involve John Egan considering your complaint. 
3.    We may then invite you to a meeting to discuss and hopefully resolve your complaint. We will do this within 21 days of sending you the acknowledgement letter/email.
4.    Following the investigation, John Egan will send you a detailed written reply to your complaint, including his findings and suggestions for resolving the matter, within 6-8 weeks of sending you the acknowledgement letter.  
5.    If you are still not satisfied, you can then contact the Legal Ombudsman at PO Box 6806, Wolverhampton WV1 9WJ about your complaint. Any complaint to the Legal Ombudsman must usually be made within six months of our final response and within six years from the date of act/omission, or three years from when you should have known about the complaint.  For further information, you should contact the Legal Ombudsman on 0300 555 0333 or at enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk
6.    If we have to change any of the timescales above, we will let you know and explain why. 
The Legal Ombudsman will handle your complaint independently and can help you if you are not happy with our work or service and have not been able to resolve the matter with us. You must usually have complained to us first  or they will not accept your complaint.

If this does not resolve matters and/or John Egan feels it is more appropriate to outsource your complaint, it will be passed to Barbara Spoor who is a Complaint Manager with the company we use to deal with some occasional complaints, Master Compliance, whose contact details are as follows: 

E-mail: barbara@mastercomplianceltd.com
Tel: 0330 2210511
Address: PO Box 6588, Southam CV47 4DE.   

What will happen next? 
Barbara will contact you either in writing, e-mail or telephone to acknowledge your concerns within 5 working days of initial contact.  

Following an initial acknowledgement, Barbara will set out her understanding of your concerns.  These two steps may be combined in that you may receive an acknowledgement which also sets out the understanding of your complaint.  You may be asked to provide any further comments, or further information, and you will be asked to confirm that her understanding is correct.  You will also be asked how you would like to resolve your complaint.  This will happen within 5 working days of the initial acknowledgement of the complaint.  If you do not confirm that the understanding is correct within 7 days, it will be assumed that the summary is correct and Barbara will move to the next stage. 

Barbara will speak with John Egan about the matter and she will review the file. This will happen within 21 working days of your providing further information or clarification that the summary is correct.  

Barbara will then write to you setting out her view of your complaint and making any proposal for resolution, within 7 working days of completing the review.  You will be asked to provide any further comments and to consider any resolution that is being proposed.

If you provide any further comments, these will be addressed within 7 working days of receipt of those further comments.  
NB The timescales are subject to the person dealing with it availability, for example they may have to change due to holidays.  If the timescale has to change you will be advised accordingly.  

If you are still remain unhappy, you can raise your concerns with The Legal Ombudsman whose contact details are as follows:  Legal Ombudsman, PO Box 6806, Wolverhampton WV1 9WJ.

Referral must be made to The Legal Ombudsman within 6 months of the date of the letter confirming the investigation has come to an end and your file is closed in relation to the complaint that has been dealt with.  In any event you must raise the formal complaint within 6 years of the incident giving rise to the complaint: this timescale being applicable after 6 October 2010.  If your complaint relates to an incident prior to this date you must raise the issues within 3 years of when you reasonably should have known you had a complaint.