Contact Chapple & Co. Solicitors

Complaints Procedure

We hope you will not have cause to complain about the work we do for you or our charges but if you feel you have a complaint about us you should in the first instance raise this with the person with day to day conduct of your matter to see if they can resolve the situation with you informally. If however you are unable to do so or prefer not to do so then you should  in the first instance submit your complaint in writing to David Chapple,  the sole proprietor of the firm and the person responsible for complaint handling at Chapple and Co. at 15 Dartford Road , March, Cambs PE15 8LA. If the complaint relates to David Chapple himself then you should put your complaint in writing and address it to Ann Caley (Practice Manager) at the above address. 

It would assist us if any written complaint contains your full name and postal address and if available e mail address and telephone number and our file reference if you are able to do so and the name of the person dealing with your matter. In your written complaint please clearly state:

What you believe we have done that is wrong or have failed to do and how you would like us to resolve your complaint.

If we receive a complaint we will:

Acknowledge the complaint in writing within 5 working days of its receipt.

Conduct a full investigation and review of the matter and if necessary seek further information from you.

Respond to your complaint in writing within 20 working days thereafter.

Within our response tell you our view of your complaint and where appropriate how we would propose to resolve it , whether by corrective action or appropriate redress eg a reduction in fees or a compensatory payment.

If we believe that we might require additional time to respond to your complaint we may try to agree with you an extension of time for doing so although you would be under no obligation to agree to an extension of time.

We aim to resolve any complaint within in 56 days (8 weeks) of its receipt and trust that we can resolve any complaint amicably and to your satisfaction.

If however you are not satisfied with our handling of your complaint then you may be able to apply to the independent Legal Ombudsman (who will not charge you to investigate a complaint who will not charge you to investigate a complaint.) Please note that the Legal Ombudsman will require you to allow us at least 8 weeks to resolve a complaint. The Legal Ombudsman expects complaints to them to be made within 6 months of our final written response to your complaint  and within a year of the date of the act or omission about which you are concerned or within 1 year from the date when you should have realised that there was cause for a complaint.

The Legal Ombudsman may exercise a discretion to accept out of time complaints in circumstances where it deems it fair and reasonable to do so.

The Legal Ombudsman is an independent and impartial complaints handling body established by the Legal Services Act 2007 to deal with complaints against solicitors and may: investigate the quality of professional service supplied to a client; investigate allegations that a solicitor has breached rules of professional conduct; investigate allegations that a solicitor has unreasonably refused to supply a professional service to a prospective client or has persistently or unreasonably offered a professional service that a client does not want.

Before it will consider a complaint the Legal Ombudsman would ordinarily require that a firm's internal complaints procedure has been exhausted and if the Legal Ombudsman is satisfied that a firm's proposals for resolving a complaint are reasonable it may decline to investigate.

The Legal Ombudsman can be contacted in the following ways:

By post to:

P O Box 6167

Slough

SL1 0EH

On the internet:

www.legalombudsman.org.uk 

By telephone: 0300 555 0333

By e-mail:

enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk

Please note that Alternative Dispute Resolution bodies exist  which are competent to deal with complaints about legal services should both you and we wish to use an alternative dispute resolution (ADR) scheme. As a firm however we have chosen not to adopt an ADR process.

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 its website to see how you can raise your concerns with the Solicitors Regulation Authority

Please note that we will record and report centrally any complaints received from clients and will review complaints received in order to identify the cause of any issue about which a client has complained.

We will not charge you for handling your complaint.