Complaints Policy and Procedure
Our aim is to provide all of our clients with a world class service. If we do not do so, we need you to tell us about it as it will help us to improve our standards.
If you have a complaint, we want to make it as easy as possible for you to present your complaint and we will treat your complaint seriously dealing with it promptly.
A complaint is when you tell us that you are not happy about the service we provide. It can be about anything and could include :-
- When we do not deliver the service reasonably expected of us
- When we give you the wrong information or fail to keep you informed
- When you receive a poor quality service
- When you have a problem with a member of staff
If you wish to make a complaint, please send this to Clive Bennett, Managing Director, by writing to him at Alpine Law Ltd, International House, Cray Avenue, Orpington, Kent BR5 3RS, or you can email him at clive.bennett@alpinelaw.co.uk
Your complaint should explain exactly why you feel that you have received sub-standard service from us, along with any evidence you wish to provide in relation to this.
We will acknowledge receipt of the complaint within 5 business days.
We will try to resolve any complaint immediately and to your satisfaction.
If your complaint cannot be resolved immediately, we will aim to formally respond to your complaint within 15 business days from its receipt.
If for any reason your complaint cannot be resolved within 15 business days of its receipt, we will notify you and explain why.
It may be necessary for your complaint to be handled by the Compliance Officer for Legal Practice (COLP) and if this is the case, we will notify you and provide the COLP’s contact details to you.
If you are unhappy with our response to your complaint, you can contact the Legal Ombudsman or, if the complaint is about our behaviour, the Solicitors Regulation Authority.
The Ombudsman will not normally investigate a complaint unless the internal complaint’s procedure has been exhausted and can be contacted as follows :-
Legal Ombudsman PO Box 6806, Wolverhampton, WV1 9WJ or call on 0300 555 0333 or emailenquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk or for further information, visit www.legalombudsman.org.uk
From the 1st April 2023, complaints to the Legal Ombudsman must usually be made within one year from the date of the act or omission about which you are complaining occurring, or from when the complainant should have realised there was an issue. Further, the complaint must be presented to the Legal Ombudsman within 6 months of our final response to your complaint.
The Solicitors’ Regulation Authority can help you 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.
The Solicitors’ Regulation Authority can be contacted at the following :-
Solicitors Regulation Authority, The Cube, 199 Wharfside Street, Birmingham, B1 1RN or call
0370 606 2555 orfor further information, visit www.sra.org.uk