Complaints Procedure

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. We undertake to deal with any complaints or concerns raised with us in a prompt, fair and effective manner.

Our Quality Assurance Procedure

If you have a complaint, please contact our ‘Quality Assurance Director’ at Cornish Venning Ltd, Unit N Questmap Business Park, Long Rock, Penzance, Cornwall, TR20 8AS

Telephone: 01736 362362 – Email: Complaints@cvc-solicitors.co.uk

If we have to change any of the timescales set out below, we will let you know and explain why.

What Will Happen Next?

  1. We will send you a letter acknowledging your complaint and asking you to confirm or explain any details.  If it seems appropriate, we will suggest a meeting at this stage.  We will also let you know the name of the person who will be dealing with your complaint.
  2. We will then record your complaint in our central register and open a file for your complaint. We will also investigate your complaint by examining the relevant file.
  3. If appropriate we will then invite you to meet the ‘Quality Assurance Director’ to discuss and hopefully resolve your complaint. We would hope to be in a position to meet with you in this way no longer than 14 days after first receiving your complaint.  If you would prefer not to meet, or if we cannot arrange this within an agreeable timescale the ‘Quality Assurance Director’ will write to you setting out fully their views on the situation and any redress that we would feel to be appropriate.
  4. Within two days of any meeting we will write to you to confirm what took place and any suggestions that we have agreed with you. In appropriate cases we could offer an apology, a reduction of any bill or a repayment in relation to any payment received.
  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 days.  This will happen in one of the following ways:
    • The ‘Quality Assurance Director’ will review their own decision.
    • We will arrange for someone in the firm who has not been involved in your complaint to review it.
    • The ‘Quality Assurance Director’ will review your complaint within 10 days.
    • 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.

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

We hope that we can resolve your complaint satisfactorily.  However, if you remain unhappy with our response then you can refer your complain to the Legal Ombudsman, an independent complaints body established under the Legal Services Act, who can investigate complaints about the legal service you have received from us.

From 1st April 2023 The Legal Ombudsman expects complaints to be made to them within one year of the date of the act or omission about which you are concerned or within one year of you realising there was a concern.  You must also refer your concerns to the Legal Ombudsman within six months of our final response to you.

The Legal Ombudsman’s contact details are: –

Telephone: 0300 555 0333  Minicom: 0300 555 1777

Website: www.legalombudsman.org.uk

Email: enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk

Post: Legal Ombudsman, PO Box 6806, Wolverhampton, WV1 9WJ