Complaint Procedure

Our Complaints Policy

We are committed to providing high quality legal advice to all our clients. When something goes wrong, we need you to tell us about it. This will help us to improve the level of service to clients.

What is a complaint?

A complaint is when you tell us in writing that you’re unhappy with the service you’ve received from us, or with our charges, and you’d like us to look into it formally.

This is different from simply asking us for an update, querying something on your file, or pointing out something you’d like corrected – we deal with those things as part of looking after your case, and you don’t need to make a complaint for us to put them right. If, however, you raise something with us and aren’t happy with how it’s been handled, or you tell us you’d like it treated as a complaint, we will deal with it under this procedure.

If you’re ever unsure whether something you want to raise is a complaint, just let your case handler or their manager know you’d like it treated as one, and it will be.

Our Complaints Procedure

If you have a complaint, please raise this with your case handler or the person responsible for your case. If you are unwilling or unable to do that, please address your complaint with their manager.

All complaints will be dealt with promptly, fairly and free of charge.

What will happen next?

1. We will try to resolve a complaint when it is initially made. Where this is not possible it will be handled in line with the steps below.

2. A manager will contact you to discuss your concerns and look to find a suitable resolution with you. If a suitable outcome is agreed with you, the complaints process will end there.

3. If we have been unable to reach a suitable resolution with you under step 2 above, we will escalate the complaint to our client service manager, Karishma Mohindra. A letter or email acknowledging receipt of this stage will be sent to you within five working days.

4. We will then investigate your complaint further. This will normally involve reviewing your file and speaking to the member or members of staff who acted for you. If your complaint relates to a matter where the file has been closed we may need to obtain your file from our archive storage facility, which may take 7-10 days.

5. We will send you a detailed reply to your complaint, including our suggestions for resolving the matter, within 4 weeks of sending you the acknowledgement letter referred to in step 3 above.

6. At this stage, if you are still not satisfied, you should contact us again and we will arrange for a Director, Associate Director, Senior Manager, or member of our Risk and Compliance Team to conduct a further review.

7. We will write to you within 4 weeks of receiving your request for a review, confirming our final position on your complaint and explaining our reasons.

8. If we have been unable to settle your complaint using our internal complaints process you have a right to complain to the Legal Ombudsman, an independent complaints body, established under the Legal Services Act 2007, that deals with legal services complaints. You have six months from the date of our final letter in which to complain to the Legal Ombudsman.  The Legal Ombudsman must only be contacted in relation to complaints about the quality of the service you have received from us.

The Legal Ombudsman expects complaints to be made to them within one year of the date of the act or omission about which you are concerned or within one year of you realising there was a concern.

Ordinarily, you cannot use the Legal Ombudsman unless you have first attempted to resolve your complaint using directly with us, but you will be able to contact the Legal Ombudsman if:

  • The complaint has not been resolved to your satisfaction within eight weeks of first making the complaint to us; or
  • The Legal Ombudsman decides that there are exceptional reasons why the Legal Ombudsman should consider your complaint sooner, or without you having to use our internal Complaints Handling Procedure first; or
  • The Legal Ombudsman considers that your complaint cannot be resolved using our internal Complaints Handling Procedure because the relationship between you and us has broken down irretrievably.

If you wish to make a complaint to the Legal Ombudsman you must be one of the following:

An individual;

  • A micro-enterprise as defined in European Recommendation 2003/361/EC of 6 May 2003 (broadly, an enterprise with fewer than 10 staff and a turnover or balance sheet value not exceeding €2 million);
  • A charity with an annual income less than £1 million;
  • A club, association or society with an annual income less than £1 million;
  • A trustee of a trust with a net asset value less than £1 million; or
  • A personal representative or the residuary beneficiaries of an estate where a person with a complaint died before referring it to the Legal Ombudsman.

Legal Ombudsman Contact Details

9. Alternative complaints bodies such as Ombudsman Services (https://www.ombudsman-services.org/), ProMediate (https://www.promediate.co.uk/) and Small Claims Mediation (https://www.gov.uk/guidance/small-claims-mediation-service) exist which are competent to deal with complaints about legal services should both you and our firm wish to use such a scheme.

As a firm we have decided that unresolved complaints will be handled only by the Legal Ombudsman as we believe the Legal Ombudsman is better equipped to resolve complaints against legal firms.

10. Complaints (such as reporting the professional behaviour of a solicitor or firm) may also be made directly to the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA). The SRA will not address complaints about service and must only be contacted in line with the guidance provided on their website. See www.sra.org.uk/consumers/problems/report-solicitor.page for more details.

11. If your complaint relates to data protection issues, you may complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).  The ICO will deal with complaints related to data protection only and must not be contacted in relation to any other aspect of your case.  If this is the case you can contact them at:
Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF
Telephone: 0303 123 1113
Website: www.ico.org.uk

12. Whilst there are three organisations (Legal Ombudsman, SRA & ICO), which we have detailed that you may contact if you believe that your complaint has not be appropriately dealt with, we must make you aware that you should only contact each in relation to the specific circumstances that each organisation has the right to intervene. If you contact an organisation with a complaint that does not meet their criteria for intervention they will reject your complaint.

Objecting to you bill(s)

You may have the right to object to our bill by applying to the court for an assessment of the bill under Part III of the Solicitors Act 1974.

Non-payment of our bill(s)

You should be aware that the firm may be entitled to charge interest if all or part of our bill(s) remain unpaid.

*If we have to change any of the timescales above, we will let you know and explain why.

Your Right to Complain About How We Use Your Personal Data

From 19 June 2026, you have a legal right to raise a complaint with us if you are unhappy with the way we handle your personal data. This includes concerns about how we collect, use, store, share, or protect your information. We take all data protection concerns seriously and will work with you to resolve them as quickly as possible.

How to Make a Data Protection Complaint

Please contact our Data Protection Officer, Rob Thomas, Director/Solicitor.

You can write to him at PLS House, Atlantic Street, Altrincham, WA14 5UW or send an email to privacy@pls-solicitors.co.uk.

You do not need to use any special wording. Simply tell us what has happened and why you are unhappy.

What Happens After You Contact Us

When you raise a data protection complaint:

1. We will acknowledge your complaint within 30 days.

2. We will investigate the issue, which may involve reviewing our records and speaking to the staff involved.

3. We will provide you with a clear written response, explaining what we have found and any steps we will take to put things right.

We aim to resolve all complaints promptly, fairly and without undue delay.

If You Are Still Unhappy

If you are not satisfied with our response, or if you feel we have not handled your complaint properly, you can contact the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). The ICO is the UK’s independent regulator for data protection.

You can find details on how to raise a concern with the ICO at: https://ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint/data-protection-complaints/

Our Commitment to You

We are committed to:

· treating all concerns seriously and respectfully

· investigating complaints thoroughly and fairly

· being open about what we have found

· taking action where we have made a mistake

· using complaints to improve our services and data protection practices

Your feedback helps us maintain high standards and continually improve how we handle your personal information.