Complaints handling procedure

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 an efficient and effective service. However, if you would like to discuss how our service could be improved, the level of your bill, or any aspect of our service you are not satisfied with, please contact the person in our firm responsible for complaints handling:

We are keen to resolve any concerns as soon as possible and, to do this, will follow our complaints handling procedure. If you would like a copy of our complaints procedure at any time, please let us know and we will send one to you.

Legal Ombudsman

We have eight weeks to consider your complaint. If for any reason we are unable to resolve the problem between us within that timeframe, you may ask the Legal Ombudsman to consider the complaint. The Legal Ombudsman investigates problems about poor service from lawyers.

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, you must take your complaint to the Legal Ombudsman:

• no more than one year from the date of the act or omission being complained about; or
• no more than one year from the date when you should have realised that there was cause for complaint; and
• within six months of receiving a final response to your complaint.

The Legal Ombudsman has discretion to accept complaints outside these timescales where it considers it fair and reasonable to do so.

For more information about the Legal Ombudsman, visit www.legalombudsman.org.uk, call 0300 555 0333 between 10am and 4pm, or write to Legal Ombudsman, PO Box 6167, Slough, SL1 0EH.

Solicitors Regulation Authority

If you think a solicitor might be dishonest, or you have concerns about their ethics or integrity, you have the right to notify our regulator, the Solicitors Regulation Authority. There are no time limits for making a report, but there are limits on what the SRA will consider. The SRA cannot deal with issues of poor service; complaints of that kind should be referred to the Legal Ombudsman. For more about the SRA's role, visit the SRA website.

Further information

For further information about our complaints handling procedure, please contact Ms Shaida Rafiq, Director, on 01282 700200 or by post at Concept Law Solicitors, 35 Carr Road, Nelson, Lancashire BB9 7JS.