Complaints Policy

Battens’ Complaints Policy

We are committed to providing a high-quality legal service to all of our clients. However, if you have concerns about the service which we have provided or if you feel that something is going wrong then it is important that you let us know as soon as possible.

If matters are addressed swiftly with the person assisting you, we may be able to resolve your concerns at an early stage.

We want to give our clients the best possible service. As well as helping us deal with any complaint as quickly as possible, communicating your concerns to us promptly will also help us to improve our overall standard of client care.

Should you wish to raise any complaint, this will be dealt with in line with our policy and will not affect the way in which any ongoing work for you will be dealt with.

Battens’ Client Care Procedure

Should there be any aspect of our service, including our bill, which you are unhappy about at any point in time and which you feel unable to resolve with the person or persons dealing with your matter, please contact us in writing as follows:

  • By post:

Katherine Gilmour (Complaints Officer) &

Debra Stephens (Management Support Officer)

Battens Solicitors Limited

Mansion House

Princes Street

Yeovil BA20 1EP

or

  • By emailing:

katherine.gilmour@battens.co.uk & debra.stephens@battens.co.uk

What will happen next?

  1. We will send you a letter acknowledging your complaint and if necessary asking you to confirm or explain the details set out in your complaint. We will also let you know the name of the person who will be dealing with your complaint. You can expect to receive our letter within seven working days of us receiving your complaint.
  2. We will send you a copy of this complaints policy with our acknowledgement and at any time on request.
  3. We will not charge you for handling your complaint.
  4. We will record your complaint in our central register.
  5. If under our letter at paragraph 1 above we have asked for further details or clarification of any information in our initial response to you, then once we have received this from you we will be able to start to investigate your complaint. If no further information has been requested from you, we will start to investigate your complaint without delay.
  6. We will ask the member of staff who acted for you and/or their team leader to comment on your complaint within seven working days of the relevant date referred to at paragraph 5 above.
  7. We will then examine those comments and the information in your file. If we feel more details are required from the appropriate person we may then ask them for more information, which may result in a further delay of up to five working days.
  8. We will in any event within three weeks of receiving the full details of your complaint provide a detailed written response that seeks to resolve the issues. Alternatively, if meeting in person is considered more appropriate, we will suggest a mutually convenient meeting to discuss the matters further. Where a meeting is held, we will write to you within 5 working days of that meeting to summarise the points discussed and any proposed resolution of your complaint.
  9. At this stage, if you are still not satisfied, you can contact us again. We will consider any additional comments you may wish to make and will endeavour to respond to you in writing within ten working days with the firm’s decision on the comments you have raised.
  10. If we do not hear further from you within 28 days from the date of any letter sent under paragraphs 8 or 9 above we will consider that our response has been accepted by you as our final response and will close your complaint. Your time limit to take your matter to the Legal Ombudsman will be six months from the date of our last written response to you.
  11. If you are not satisfied with our handling of your complaint you can ask the Legal Ombudsman to consider the complaint. Normally, you will need to bring a complaint to the Legal Ombudsman within six months of receiving a final written response from us about your complaint.

The Legal Ombudsman contact details are:

Legal Ombudsman,
PO Box 6806,
Wolverhampton
WV1 9WJ.

Website - www.legalombudsman.org.uk
Tel - 0300 555 0333
E-mail - enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk

Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA)

Battens are regulated by the SRA. There are seven Principles that all people and law firms regulated by the SRA must meet. This means that they must act:

  1. in a way that upholds the constitutional principle of the rule of law, and the proper administration of justice
  2. in a way that upholds public trust and confidence in the solicitors' profession and in legal services provided by authorised persons
  3. with independence
  4. with honesty
  5. with integrity
  6. in a way that encourages equality, diversity and inclusion
  7. in the best interests of each client.

If you believe Battens has breached an SRA Principle you can report the matter to the SRA whose address is Solicitors Regulation Authority, The Cube, 199 Wharfside Street, Birmingham, B1 1RN.

Battens’ Commitment to our Services

Whilst we pride ourselves on delivering a high quality legal service to our clients, we recognise that there are often ways in which improvements can be made.

It is important to us that we constantly monitor our services and seek to improve. Your feedback is important to us in doing so.

We are committed to dealing with complaints promptly and fairly. We will apply any outcome of your complaint to continue to improve our services for you and all of our clients in the future.