Our complaints 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.

 

Who to contact

If you are unhappy with any aspect of the service which you have received or the costs which you have been charged it is often best to raise your concerns immediately with the member of staff who has been instructed to complete the work for you or their case supervisor. You were supplied with their contact details when you first instructed us.

However, we understand that you may wish for your concerns to be more formally investigated – particularly if your complaint relates to the case supervisor or you are unhappy with any response you have already received.

For your complaint to be formally investigated, please contact:

Mr Tony Williams (The Complaints Director), JNP Legal, 15 Glebeland Street, Merthyr Tydfil, CF47 8AU

Or email: Complaints@jnplegal.org

Or telephone: 01685 350421

If your complaint relates to Mr Tony Williams, please contact Miss Rebecca Rees at the same postal address and phone number or email her at Complaints@jnplegal.org

 

What will happen next?

1. We will send a letter acknowledging your complaint letter/email or telephone call. You can expect to receive our letter / e-mail within three working days of us receiving your complaint.

 

2. Responsibility for investigating your complaint will be assigned to the member of the Practice best placed to carry out the investigation. This will usually be the Head of Department (HOD) or Compliance Manager. He/she will normally review the file and speak to those who carried out the work.

 

3. If appropriate you may be invited to a meeting to discuss and hopefully resolve your complaint. If we propose a meeting, you will be contacted within 14 working days of sending the acknowledgement letter.

 

4. If a meeting takes place, we will write to you after it takes place confirming what took place and setting out any solutions which were agreed with you or our suggestions for resolving the matter. We would normally expect to send this letter within 21 working days of the meeting.

 

5. If a meeting is not possible or you do not want to meet, we will send you a detailed reply to your complaint setting out any suggestions for resolving the matter. We would normally expect to send this reply within 21 working days of sending you the acknowledgement letter. If we are not able to send a full reply within that period, we will update you and tell you when we expect to be able to write to you again.

 

6. If at this stage, you are still not satisfied you can contact us again. We will then arrange to for someone unconnected to the matter to carry out a further review.

 

7. We will write to you within 21 working days of receiving your request for a review confirming our final decision on your complaint and explaining our decision.

 

8. If you are dealing with us as a private individual or are a very small business, charity, club or trust then you may have the right to refer your complaint to the Legal Ombudsman. You cannot normally refer your complaint to the Legal Ombudsman unless eight weeks have passed since your complaint to us, but you may do so earlier if we have notified you of our final decision and you remain dissatisfied. Further details of the Legal Ombudsman are set out below.

 

The Legal Ombudsman

The Legal Ombudsman is an independent organisation with powers to resolve complaints about legal services when issues have not been resolved between an individual and their lawyer. The service is open to members of the public, very small businesses, charities, clubs and trusts. You can check if they are able to deal with your complaint by writing to:

The Legal Ombudsman, PO Box 6167, Slough, SL1 0EH

Or

Telephoning 0300 555 0333

Or

You can visit their website at www.legalombudsman.org.uk.

 

You may make a complaint within six months of our final decision. If you do not refer your complaint to the Legal Ombudsman within that six-month period, then your complaint may not be accepted by the Ombudsman.

 

Please note that from 1 April 2023 the Legal Ombudsman’s time limits for accepting complaints have changed and they now expect complaints to be made to them within one year of the act or omission that is being complained about or within one year of when a person should have known about or become aware that there were grounds for complaint. The requirement to refer your concerns to the Legal Ombudsman within six months of our final response to you remains the same. If you would like more information about this service, including the time limits for taking a case to them, please contact the Legal Ombudsman directly using the contact details above.

 

IT IS IMPORTANT TO ACT PROMPTLY IF YOU THINK YOU ARE ENTITLED TO REFER A COMPLAINT TO THE LEGAL OMBUDSMAN.

 

Complaints about costs

If your concerns relate to a bill, then you have the right to apply to the court for an assessment of the bill under part III of the Solicitors Act 1974. Please note that the Legal Ombudsman may decide not to consider any complaint you may have about a bill which has already been referred to the court for assessment.