Complaints

The Practice regards a complaint as an oral or written expression of dissatisfaction which alleges that the complainant has suffered (or may suffer) financial loss, distress, inconvenience or other detriment.

Yes. If you are unhappy about any aspect of the service, you have received or costs relating to your matter then we want to hear about it.

Complaints can be raised in a number of ways. The Practice will allow and respond to complaints made by any reasonable means giving due consideration to the individual needs of that client.
Your first contact regarding a complaint should be directly to our Practice Administration who receive initial complaints. You can do this via:

Complaints
Kidwells Law Solicitors Ltd.
4 Coldnose Road
Rotherwas Industrial Estate
Hereford
HR2 6JL
Email: complaints@kidwellssolicitors.co.uk
Phone: 01432 278179

If a complaint is made against Michael Horne then the role will be assumed by another Director.

When a complaint is first received, the firm must respond by letter within 5 working days of the day upon which we received the complaint.

This webpage contains a complete copy of our Complaints Procedure which advise of the complainant’s right to complain to the Legal Ombudsman. You can request additional copies at any time.

The Practice will deal with the complaint as a separate matter to the instructed matter. Records of all complaints and associated documents and correspondence will be kept by the Practice and recorded on our complaints log.

The Practice will aim to resolve disputes within 8 weeks of receipt of the complaint. The Practice will investigate the complaint fully. This will include reviewing the file and speaking to the fee earner who dealt with the matter.

After the matter has been investigated, the Practice will if appropriate invite the complainant to a meeting to discuss and hopefully resolve their complaint. Within 3 days of that meeting the Practice will write to the complainant confirming the meeting and any solutions that were agreed at it.

If the complainant does not wish to attend a meeting, the Practice will send a detailed written response to the complainant with suggestions for resolving the complaint within 8 weeks of sending the letter acknowledging the complaint.

If the complainant remains unsatisfied a Director will review the decision and may arrange to meet with them to discuss why they remain unsatisfied. Within 14 days of that review or meeting, a Director will summarise the outcome of the complaint reminding them of their right to complain to the Legal Ombudsman. This will conclude the internal complaints procedure.

If you are not satisfied with our handling of your complaint you can ask the Legal Ombudsman to look at your complaint. You can do this via:

Legal Ombudsman 
PO Box 6167 
Slough 
SL1 0EH
Email: enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk
Phone: 0300 555 0333

We would welcome the opportunity of resolving any issues with you prior to this. You must allow us eight weeks to provide a full response to your complaint.

Any complaint to the Legal Ombudsman typically must meet ALL three of the steps below:

• You are referring your complaint to the Legal Ombudsman within either
  of the following: within a year of the date of the act or omission about which you are concerned or within a year of you realising there was a concern; and
• You are referring your complaint to the Legal Ombudsman within six
  months of our final response.

We will not consent to complaints outside of this period being dealt with by the Legal Ombudsman.

For further information, you should contact the Legal Ombudsman on 0300 555 0333 or at www.legalombudsman.org.uk

The Solicitors Regulating Authority only deals with complaints if a firm or someone regulated by the SRA has breached the SRA Principles. You must complain to your solicitor or the firm first before the SRA will consider your complaint. The SRA website and contact centre has further guidance on when they can and cannot support complaints. For further information you should contact the SRA through the following methods:

Website: https://www.sra.org.uk/home/contact-us/
Phone: 0370 606 2555
Letter: Solicitors Regulation Authority, The Cube, 199 Wharfside Street, Birmingham,
B1 1RN