We believe it is paramount that we adhere to a service commitment to our clients by providing the best possible personalised service to our clients in accordance with our guarantees written into our Terms of Business in our client care letter. We pride ourselves on the standard of service and legal advice we offer to all our clients and ensure that we meet clients expectations by
(i) Representing clients interests to the best of our ability. Charging only what we have agreed with clients in writing in advance. If we cannot agree to enter into a conditional fee agreement (no win no fee) or fix a fee, we do our very best to give you an idea of the likely total cost. If any unforeseen additional work becomes necessary or the circumstances significantly change during the course of the matter we will give you a general forecast, with a possible range of costs and explain why a forecast is not possible but indicate costs for each stage of the matter; or agree a cost limit and review date. (iv) Keeping clients up to date with progress and explain to when the client is likely to hear from us next, deal with any questions quickly, return phone calls on the same day or tell clients when we will return calls, reply to letters within 2 working days. We want to give you the best possible service. However, if at any point you become unhappy or concerned about the service we have provided to you then you should inform us immediately so that we can do our best to resolve the problem for you. In the first instance it may be helpful to contact us to discuss any concerns and we will do our best to resolve any issues at this stage. Before accepting a complaint for investigation the Legal Ombudsman will check that you have tried to resolve your complaint with us first. If you would like to make a formal complaint then you can access our full complaints procedure set out below: Burketts internal Complaints procedure A complaint may be raised with the Principal Solicitor, either in writing, over the telephone, by fax or e-mail. All complaints are referred to the Complaints Manager for investigation. The Complaints Manager will write to acknowledge a complaint within five working days of the complaint first being received. The acknowledgement letter will confirm the following: • The contact details of the person investigating the complaint • Acknowledgement of the concerns raised to ensure there are no misunderstandings. We aim to investigate and resolve all complaints within six weeks of receipt. If we are unable to provide you with a full response, we will write to you and inform you of the reasons why and when we will next be in contact with you. In the unlikely event we have still not concluded our investigation after eight weeks we will write to you further informing you of the reasons why and a date in which we expect to be able to provide you with a final response. Upon conclusion of our investigations into a complaint, we will send you a final decision letter confirming the following; • Our final decision of our investigations • Any appropriate redress that Burketts is willing to make. What happens if we don’t agree with your views on the 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. You can raise your concerns with The Solicitors Regulation Authority at: www.sra.org.uk/consumers/problems/report-solicitor.page If we are unable to resolve the complaint with you then you can have the complaint independently looked at by the Legal Ombudsman. The Legal Ombudsman investigates problems about poor service from lawyers. How to make a complaint about Burketts to the Legal Ombudsman There are three methods you can use to make your complaint. 1.Online complaint application Visit: www.legalombudsman.org.uk 2. Telephone: The Legal Ombudsman’s office between 9.00am and 5.00pm on 0300 555 0333 (Calls are charged at local rates) 3. In writing to the Office of the Legal Services Ombudsman: By Email: enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk By post: Legal Ombudsman PO Box 6806, Wolverhampton, WV1 9WJ You should write to the Ombudsman within 6 months of receiving Burketts final decision letter but no longer than six years from the alleged date of negligence. No more than three years from when you should reasonably have known there was cause for complaint. You will need to provide: • Reasons why you are dissatisfied with Burketts handling of your complaint and/or the decision reached; • The reference number for your case; • The name of the Solicitor dealing with your case; • A copy of Burketts final decision letter.
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