Complaints Procedure

Introduction

Best Solicitors Limited is committed to high quality legal advice and client care. If you are unhappy about any aspect of the service you have received or about the bill, you should in the first instance contact the Head of the relevant Department. If you remain unsatisfied then please contact Elizabeth Harris, the Complaints Manager or call on 0114 2813636 or by post to our offices. We have a procedure in place which details how we handle complaints which is available from our offices on request.

All solicitors must attempt to resolve problems that may arise with their services. It is therefore important that you immediately raise with us any concerns you may have. We would be disappointed if you thought that you had reason to be unhappy with the service that we are providing.

Please be aware that any complaint to the Legal Ombudsman must usually be made within six months of your having received a final response from us about your complaint. Complaints to the Legal Ombudsman must usually be made within one year of the act or omission bout which you are complaining occurring; or within one year from when you should have known about or become aware that there were grounds for complaint.

In the unlikely event that a mistake is made by this firm, we have professional indemnity insurance in the sum of £3 million per claim. We do require that you limit any claim you may have in respect of professional negligence against this firm to the amount of that sum.

Our Policy

You have the right to complain to us.

You will not be charged for any time spent handling your complaint.

You can request a copy of this Complaints Procedure at any time.

We issue all clients with a copy of this Complaints Procedure:
• On instruction of our Firm.
• When you raise a complaint.

Making a Complaint

We want 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 do not feel able to discuss your concerns with them, please contact the person responsible for the overall supervision of your matter, who will be named in the client care letter we sent you at the beginning of your matter.

If you do not feel able to raise your concerns with either the fee earner or their supervisor, or if you have raised your issues with the fee earner and you are still not satisfied with the response, you can refer the matter to the Firm’s Complaints Manager, who is Elizabeth Harris, by emailing ElizabethHarris@bestsolicitorsonline.co.uk or writing to her at Best Solicitors Ltd., Broughton House, 48 West Street, Sheffield, S1 4EX.

Making a complaint will not affect how we handle your case.

If you need to make a complaint, you should:
• Complain as soon as possible.
• Provide your full name and contact details.
• Provide us with your file reference number if you have it.
• Be clear on what the issue is and how you would like it to be resolved.
• Allow us up to eight weeks to resolve your complaint.

If you require any help in making your complaint, we will try to help you.

Handling and Resolving a Complaint

We will write to you within seven days acknowledging your complaint, enclosing a copy of this policy.

We will investigate your complaint. This will usually involve:
• Reviewing your complaint.
• Reviewing your file(s) and other relevant documents.
• Liaising with the person who dealt with your matter.

We may also need to ask you for further information or documents. If so, we will ask you to provide the information within a specific period of time.

We will update you on the progress of your complaint at appropriate times.

We may also, if appropriate, invite you to a meeting to discuss your complaint. You do not have to attend if you do not wish to or if you are unable to. We will be happy to discuss the matter with you by telephone or video conference.

We will provide you with a written outcome following an investigation into your complaint to tell you what we have done and what we propose to do to resolve your complaint.

Where possible, we will aim to do this within 21 days of the date of our letter of acknowledgement. If you are not happy with our outcome or we have not provided you with an outcome within eight weeks, you can contact the Legal Ombudsman.

If we cannot resolve your complaint, you can speak directly to the Legal Ombudsman, provided that you fit one of the following categories:
• an individual.
• a business or enterprise that was a micro-enterprise (European Union definition) when it referred the complaint to the authorised person.
• a charity that had an annual income net of tax of less than £1 million when it referred the complaint to the authorised person.
• a club/association/organisation, the affairs of which are managed by its members/a committee/a committee of its members, that had an annual income net of tax of less than £1 million when it referred the complaint to the authorised person.
• a trustee of a trust that had an asset value of less than £1million when it referred the complaint to the authorised person.
• a personal representative or beneficiary of the estate of a person who, before he/she died, had not referred the complaint to the Legal Ombudsman.

They will look at your complaint independently and it will not affect how we handle your case. The Legal Ombudsman service is free of charge and can investigate complaints about the legal service you have received from us.

Before accepting a complaint for investigation, the Legal Ombudsman will check that you have tried to resolve your complaint with us first.

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 from when you should have known about the complaint. You must also refer your concerns to the Legal Ombudsman within six months of our final response to you. The Legal Ombudsman will only extend these time limits if they determine it to be fair and reasonable to do so.

If you would like more information about the Legal Ombudsman, please contact them as follows:
Website: www.legalombudsman.org.uk
Phone Number: 0300 555 0333 9am to 5pm.
Email: enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk
Address: Legal Ombudsman, PO Box 6167, Slough, SL1 0EH

Contact details for the Legal Ombudsman

PO Box 6167, Slough, SL1 0EH

0300 555 0333

enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk

For complaints that relate specifically to an alleged breach of the SRA Standards and Regulations including the SRA Accounts Rules, you should refer the matter to the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA). This could be for things like general misconduct, losing your money or treating you unfairly because of your age, a disability or other characteristic. The SRA will not investigate complaints about services provided by the Firm. They will refer such matters to the Legal Ombudsman.

Website: https://www.sra.org.uk/consumers/problems/report-solicitor.page
Phone Number: 0370 606 2555 between 8am to 5pm. Except Tuesday 9:30am to 5pm.
Contact page:

Contact details for the Solicitors Regulation Authority

The Cube, 199 Wharfside Street, Birmingham, B1 1RN

0370 606 2555

report@sra.org.uk

www.sra.org.uk

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Used Best Solicitors for years now because of Stephanie and will carry on doing so. Stephanie is so helpful and the knowledge she holds is phenomenal. Her attention to detail is second to none.

Thomas

Amazing experience with BEST, Bethan and Kerrie very supportive and kept us informed all the way through the process, very quick to respond to queries and nothing too much trouble! Once again thank you so much!

Malcom

I dealt with Megan Armitage. She was very calm, professional, and very patient. She explained things I didn’t understand again and again without issues. She is very knowledgeable, and she always kept me informed of all information whether big or small. Thank you very very much Megan. You are simply the best and you are an asset to the company. It was lovely working with you.

Anonymous

Super professional, very knowledgeable, very efficient, and very flexible in making himself available to meet in person even at short notice.

Bakul

Chloe helped massively throughout the process of buying our first home, and gave professional and helpful advice to any, and all, questions that we had. She worked promptly and managed to get us to completion earlier than we expected. I still feel if we have any issues or further questions we would happily reach out to Chloe, all in all we are very impressed with the service and would definitely use again if needed or would recommend to a friend!

Sophie

Elizabeth was so thorough, and so patient with my many (sometimes daft) questions. She made everything seem very straightforward. I cannot recommend Elizabeth enough.

Kirsty

After the recent passing of my mother, I needed to rewrite my own Will. I contacted Best Solicitors, who I’d lodged it with 5 years prior, & I was put in touch with Ellie Whitehead in the Wills & Probate dept. She guided me through the steps, explained everything in plain English & ensured I understood every part of my new Will. The costs were made clear at the beginning & all the work was completed quickly & efficiently. I was very happy with the service & will retain Best as my go to legal firm. I’m also reassured that if the worst happens to me, then Best are fully equipped to support my family in dealing with my estate.

Shamsa

Helpful fast and professional service. 5 stars.

Mark

Best Solicitors has done wonderful work regarding my court case with my daughter always email you with all the relevant documents and always polite on phone and in person.

Christopher

I recently decided due to circumstances to change my will. I chose Best Solicitors and must say the service was excellent. I can only thank Stephanie and Alicia for the prompt and professional service Making a hard decision or writing a will as smooth and effortless as possible but also incredibly professional. Thank you and I would recommend Best Solicitors to anyone who is in need of help.

Roger

Steph, Courtney, Emma and the rest of the team are simply incredible. An extraordinarily personable yet professional and highly effective group of people. Our move was complicated with Steph and Best having to liaise with an unbelievably poor firm that was handling the sale of our new house, throughout the entire process our emails and calls were returned within a few hours, providing constant updates and reassurance. I could not recommend Steph and the team at Best highly enough, they’re absolutely worth every penny.

Owen & Gemma

We used best solicitors to purchase our property. It was so easy and stress free. I found the app to upload all our documents onto was very easy to use and understand. Communication was great, we were kept updated regularly and help was always there when needed. Overall experience was good, I would highly recommend them.

Sykes

I would highly recommend Best Solicitors. They provided a fantastic service and were only an email or phone call away for whatever I needed. Especially Chloe Birks, she went above and beyond to help guide me through the process as a first-time buyer. Thanks again!

Joseph

From start to finish we have been updated with the progress if our mortgage application. Bethan and her team were brilliant, able to help answer any questions we had. Very polite, professional company. They made our first time buying a property so stress free and easy. The house purchase went through so quickly. We would highly recommend them to anyone. Thank you for all of your help and support through this big chapter in our life.

Shaun & Sam

Massive thank you to Best Solicitors and in particular Alicia Mate for the help and advice we were given when recently making our wills. Everything was explained clearly, quickly and professionally making the whole experience so easy for us both. A job really well done and we would highly recommend Best to anyone looking for support either with their wills or any other legal matter they may have. Thanks again.

Nick

Been such a joy working with Steph. Nothing bad to say about the process. Prompt, Professional and on time; all the time. Can’t recommend enough!

Chris

My husband & I have recently had the pleasure of meeting Ellie who dealt with the process of helping us with our wills. Ellie was brilliant from start to finish explaining everything to us to make sure we understood everything. Would highly recommend anyone to get in touch with Best Solicitors. We are 100% happy with the service we had.

Yvonne

Steph was extremely patient and helpful throughout the whole process. Steph was always on hand if needed. With this being our first mortgage, the process was smooth and extremely well explained. The branch as a whole is so approachable, we called many times due to having so many little questions to ask constantly and this was never too much trouble. Would use again and would highly recommend.

Anonymous

Best Solicitors, and in particular the Wills and Probate department, were very efficient and in processing probate. The pathway was clearly defined by Anne Rogers, and followed a logical process, making it straightforward at a difficult time.

Anonymous

Fantastic service from start to finish! They have now helped me through two transactions and I couldn’t recommend these guys more. Will be 100% using in the future.

Gabe

Used this company as a first-time buyer, which is scary enough on its own but was completely felt as ease all way through with Bethan and Kerrie, could not recommend enough! Everything was on time, chased up and regular updates throughout. Will be using this company again in the future and will definitely be recommending to family and friends!

Amy

Positive excellent prompt friendly service. Reasonable price. Will strongly recommend to friends and family. We will definitely use the firm in future.

Mortilal

Having shopped around for local conveyancers I chose to go with best due to the good feedback from previous customers. Steph, Emma and Courtney have been brilliant throughout the process of my purchase. Various hurdles were thrown up and the team dealt with them diligently and concisely whilst keeping me updated throughout. I will be using Steph and her team for an upcoming sale and would recommend them to friends and family.

Ben

I have worked with Best Solicitors for many years and have always found them to be very friendly, personable, and passionate about their work.

Simon

Best Solicitors & Stephanie made our first experience of buying a house, the easiest & quickest experience ever. Stephanie answered any questions we had & explained the process in detail every step of the way. Nothing was too much trouble. Thank you Stephanie & Best Solicitors.

Charlotte

Having sustained an injury at work, I took a few months to decide if/how i wanted to proceed. However, as the injury continued to cause me issues and affect my health, I decided to approach Best Solicitors for legal advice. I am glad I did, the advice they gave me was honest, fair and informative and although they gave no guarantees of the outcome, they were supportive and reassuring to my situation. My solicitor was Stacey Smith and throughout the 4years my personal injury claim went on for , Stacey was supportive and reassuring and consistent in her approach and advice, until the very end when we got the outcome we had been waiting for. Given my own personaI experience, I would recommend both Best and Stacey to anyone in a similar situation.

Kelly

Had a seamless experience with Best Solicitors Ltd. Really easy to get hold of and the communication from them was timely and informative. Made my house buying experience very straight forward. Thank you very much.

Charlotte

Brilliant solicitor. Helped amazingly. Would definitely recommend.

Anonymous

They are awesome – I don’t have enough words.

Patricia

Great service from Ellie Whitehead in the Wills and Probate Dept. Ellie answered all of my questions and helped me decide how best to structure my will. Very helpful and prompt communications.

Liz