Complaints
Prioritising our clients’ experience is very important to us, and we always aim to give you the best possible service. However, if at any point you become unhappy or concerned about the service we have provided then you should inform us immediately so that we can do our best to resolve the problem.
In the first instance, it may be helpful to contact the person who is working on your case to discuss your concerns and we will do our best to resolve any issues at that stage. If you would like to make a formal complaint, please see our full complaints procedure below. Making a complaint will not affect how we handle your case and you will not be charged for time spent handling your complaint.
Full complaints procedure
We are committed to providing a quality service to our clients. We value feedback from clients greatly because it helps us to continually improve our service. If you do not feel that you are receiving excellent client service or you think that something could be improved, please do tell us about it. If we have fallen short of the high standards which we have set for ourselves then we would like the opportunity to put it right.
What do I do if I have feedback or a complaint?
At first it would be helpful if you could discuss any feedback or concerns which you have about our service or how it might be improved with the lawyer dealing with your matter. If the lawyer dealing cannot resolve your concern informally, or if the issue is of such a serious nature that you do not feel comfortable raising it with your lawyer, then you may discuss this with our complaints partners under this policy.
How do I raise a complaint under this policy?
You should please contact Lynn McCloghry (lynn@eversageimmigration.com) and/or Faydelys Robinson (faydelys@eversageimmigration.com), Partners & Co-Founders of Eversage Associates, to raise a complaint. It would help us if you could send an email containing the following information:
Why you feel dissatisfied with the service which you have received;
How you would prefer to be contacted about your complaint;
If there is anything which you would like us to do to resolve your complaint.
If you would prefer not to email details of your complaint in this way, please call us to discuss the best way to get an understanding of your concerns.
What happens after I have made a complaint?
Once you have contacted us in line with the above process, we will:
Send an acknowledgement of your complaint within seven days of receiving it;
Log your complaint on our central complaints register;
Investigate the concerns and arrange a discussion with you to try to agree how to resolve the issues within 21 days of receiving your complaint;
Write to you within 28 days of receiving your complaint to confirm the outcome of this process.
In exceptional circumstances it may be necessary to extend these timescales, but we will try to agree any variations with you first. After eight weeks at the latest, if you remain unsatisfied we will always ensure that you are reminded of how to make a complaint to the Legal Ombudsman (if you are eligible to do so).
What might the outcome of my complaint be?
We very much regret any dissatisfaction which our clients experience and will not hesitate to apologise to you where our service has fallen below our high standards. We may also agree that certain steps will be taken to improve your situation and to ensure that any problems experienced will not re-occur.
If we cannot resolve your complaint
The Legal Ombudsman may be able to help you if we are unable to resolve your complaint ourselves. They will look at complaints independently and accessing the Ombudsman will not affect how we handle your case. Most ‘consumer’ clients (as oppose to large businesses) will be able to make use of the Ombudsman scheme however there are restrictions for some larger clients. 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 within the following time frames:
Within six months of receiving a final response to your complaint;
and
No more than six years from the date of the act/omission; or
No more than three years from when you should reasonably have known there was cause for complaint.
If you would like more information about the Legal Ombudsman, please contact them:
Visit: www.legalombudsman.org.uk
Call: 0300 555 0333 between 9am to 5pm.
Email: enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk
Write: Legal Ombudsman PO Box 6806, Wolverhampton, WV1 9WJ
Please note that the Ombudsman are there to deal with concerns about the level of service received. Where there are more serious concerns that a solicitor or solicitor’s firm have been involved in professional misconduct then reports can also be made to the Solicitors Regulation Authority, the regulator of solicitors and solicitor firms. This could be for quite unusual and serious acts of misconduct such as dishonesty, taking or losing your money or treating you unfairly because of your age, a disability or other characteristic. Obviously, we do not anticipate any such problems arising and would ask that you notify the lawyer supervising your matter straight away if you have any such concerns. You can find out more about the Solicitors Regulation Authority including their contact details and professional conduct rules on their website: www.sra.org.uk.