Our Complaints Handling Policy

We are committed to providing a high quality of legal services to all our clients. If something goes wrong we hope that you will tell us about it. This will help us to put issues right immediately and to improve our standards in the longer term.

Our complaints handling procedure

If you have a complaint, please contact Carl Woolf, our Client Care Partner. You can write to him at Meldrum Solicitors, Trident House, 42-48 Victoria Street, St Albans, AL1 3HZ. If your complaint concerns Carl Woolf then you may write to David Wales, another Partner, at the same address. If we have to change any of the responsibilities or the timescales set out below we will let you know and explain why.

What will happen next?

1.       Within 3 working days we will send you a letter acknowledging your complaint and confirming the name of the person who will be dealing with your complaint. We will also provide you with a copy of our complaints handling procedure. We will ask you to confirm or explain any details and, if it seems appropriate, we will suggest a meeting at this stage. 

2.       We will then record your complaint in our central register and open a file for your complaint. We will  investigate your complaint by examining the relevant file and speaking to the member of staff concerned.

3.       If appropriate we will invite you to a meeting to discuss and resolve your complaint. We would hope to be in a position to meet with you in this way no longer than 14 working days after first receiving your complaint. If you would prefer not to meet, or if we cannot arrange this within an agreeable timescale, we will write fully to you setting out our views on the situation and any redress that we would feel to be appropriate.

4.       Within 3 working days of any meeting we will write to you to confirm what took place and any solutions that we have agreed with you. In appropriate cases we would offer an apology, reduction in any bill or a repayment in relation to any payment received. If you have chosen not to meet with us, we will write to you as above within 3 working days of you notifying us of the same.

5.       At this stage, if you are still not satisfied, please let us know. We will then arrange to review our decision. We would generally aim to do this within 10 working days. This will happen in one of the following ways:

§  Carl Woolf or David Wales will review their own decision

§  We will arrange for someone in the firm who has not been involved in your complaint to review it.

§  Carl Woolf or David Wales will review each others’ decision.

§  We will ask our local law society or another local firm of solicitors to review your complaint. We will let you know how long this process will take.

§  We will invite you to agree to independent mediation.

§  We will let you know how long this process will take.

6.       We will let you know the result of the review within 14 working days of the end of the review. At this stage we will write to you confirming our final position on your complaint and explaining our reasons.

7.       If you are still not satisfied, you can then contact the Legal Ombudsman about your complaint:

Address: PO Box 15870, Birmingham, B30 9EB                                                                                                               Tel: 0300 555 0333   

E-mail: enquiries@legalombudsman.gov.uk                                                                                                                    

8.       If your complaint relates to your bill you have the right to omit stages 1-7 and make a complaint to the Legal Ombudsman and/or by applying to the court for an assessment of the bill under Part III of the Solicitors’ Act 1974.