Complaints Procedure

Our Complaints Policy

At Astle Paterson, we are committed to providing a high-quality legal service to all our clients. We hope that you will never have reason to complain about our service to you, however, if something does go wrong, please bring it to our attention as soon as you can. This will help us to improve our standards.

Any expression of dissatisfaction about the service you have received from Astle Paterson will be considered seriously. We will investigate your concerns objectively and try to generate a positive and speedy solution. We will apologise if appropriate and do our best to offer a practical solution.

Astle Paterson’s Complaints Director is Liam O’Shea who is responsible for this procedure.

What to do if you have a complaint about the service we have provided

Wherever possible we try to resolve complaints within the department handling your case. Initially, complaints should be made in writing to the person dealing with your case.

If you are not happy with the reply provided, you can refer the matter to Liam O’Shea by email, loshea@astlepaterson.co.uk, or by post at Clay House, 5 Horninglow Street, Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire DE14 1NG.

We much prefer that substantial or complicated complaints are dealt with in writing – however, we do not have any set forms that we use for this purpose. Should there be any circumstances which make it difficult for you to make a complaint in writing, please phone Liam O’Shea on 01283 531366.

What will happen next?

We will investigate your complaint and ultimately provide a final written response. This will normally involve the following steps:

1. Liam O’Shea, our designated Complaints Director, will acknowledge receipt of your complaint, by sending a letter to you within 7 days.
2. He will then examine the information in your file and if necessary, he may also speak to the person dealing with your file at the firm. This will take up to 14 days.
3. Liam O’Shea will then invite you to meet him to discuss, and we hope, resolve your complaint.
4. Within 7 days of the meeting Liam O’Shea will write to you to confirm what took place and any solution he has agreed with you (which may be our final written response – subject to your right to seek a review).
5. Should you not want a meeting or it is not possible, Liam O’Shea will seek to send you a detailed reply to your complaint (which may be our final written response – subject to your right to seek a review).
6. This will include his suggestions for resolving the matter. He will do this within 28 days of acknowledging receipt of your complaint.
7. At this stage, if you are still not satisfied you can write to us again. We will then arrange to review our decision by way of another Director of the firm reviewing Liam O’Shea’s decision within 14 days.
8. We will let you know the result of the review within 28 days of receipt of your request that we review Liam O’Shea’s decision. At this time, we will write to you confirming our final written response on your complaint and explaining our reasons.
9. If we have to change any of the timescales above, we will let you know and explain why.
10. Upon receipt of our final written response, if you are still not satisfied, you can contact the Legal Ombudsman about your complaint.

Referral To The Legal Ombudsman

Any complaint to the Legal Ombudsman (‘Ombudsman’) must usually be made within six months of the date of our final written response on your complaint but for further information, you can visit the Ombudsman’s website at www.legalombudsman.org.uk. There is no charge for the Ombudsman’s services.

The Ombudsman’s contact details are as follows:
Legal Ombudsman
PO Box 6806
Wolverhampton
WV1 9WJ

Helpline: 0300 555 0333
E-Mail: enquiries@legalombusdman.org.uk

Alternative Dispute Resolution

We currently do not use any Alternative Dispute Resolution providers to resolve complaints and unresolved complaints about our services can be dealt with by the Legal Ombudsman under the statutory complaints scheme.