Complaints Policy

We are committed to providing a high-quality legal service to all our clients. When something goes wrong we need you to tell us about it. This will help us to improve our standards.

OUR COMPLAINTS PROCEDURE

If you have a complaint, please contact Simon Cutting, Managing Partner. You can make a complaint by telephone or in writing (by letter, fax or email). You can contact him at:

                 Letter:            21 Southernhay East, Exeter, EX1 1QQ

                 E-mail:           s.cutting@dunnandbaker.co.uk

                 Telephone:    01392 285000

                 Fax:                01392 285001

To help us to understand your complaint, and in order that we do not miss anything, please tell us:

• your full name and contact details;
• what you think we have got wrong;
• how you would like your complaint to be resolved; and
• your file reference number (if you have it).

If you require any help in making your complaint we will try to help you.

WHAT WILL HAPPEN NEXT

We will write to you within two working days acknowledging your complaint, enclosing a copy of this policy.

We will record your complaint in our Central Register and open a file for your complaint.

We will then start to investigate your complaint. This will involve one or more of the following steps:

• reviewing your complaint;
• reviewing your file(s) and other relevant documents;
• liaising with the person who dealt with your matter; and
• we may also need to ask you for further information or documents. If so, we will ask you to provide the information within a specific period of time.

Upon completion of our investigation we will send to you a detailed reply to your complaint. This will include our suggestions for resolving the matter. Where possible, we will aim to do this within 21 days of the date of our letter of acknowledgement.

Should you have any further queries or concerns in addition to the points answered in our letter of reply, we would be happy to adress them for you. 

WHAT TO DO IF WE CANNOT RESOLVE YOUR COMPLAINT

The Legal Ombudsman can help you if we are unable to resolve your complaint ourselves. They will look at your complaint independently and it will not affect how we handle your matter.

Before accepting a complaint for investigation, the Legal Ombudsman will check that you have tried to resolve your complaint with us first. If you have, then you must take your complaint to the Legal Ombudsman:

• No more than one year from the date of the act or omission being complained about; or

• No more than one year from the date when you should have realised that there was cause for complaint;

  and

• Within six months of receiving a final response to your complaint.

If you would like more information about the Legal Ombudsman, please contact them.

                 Visit:      www.legalombudsman.org.uk

                 Call:       0300 555 0333 between 9:00 to 17:00

                 Email:    enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk

                 Letter:    Legal Ombudsman, PO Box 6167, Slough SL1 0EH

WHAT WILL IT COST?

We will not charge you for handling your complaint.

Please note that if we have issued a bill for work done on the matter, and all or some of the bill is not paid, we may be entitled to charge interest on the amount outstanding. This is explained in our Terms of Business.

The Legal Ombudsman service is free of charge.

Please note:

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