Complaints procedure

We want to give you the best possible service. However, if at any point you become unhappy with the service we have provided to you or you have concerns about our charges then you should inform us immediately so that we can do our best to resolve the problem for you.

Dissatisfied with our service?

Initially please contact the person who is handling your matter to discuss your concerns. Alternatively, or if your concerns are not resolved by the person handling your matter please contact the person supervising their work. The name of the supervisor is set out in the client care letter sent to you at the start of your case. 

We will do our best to resolve any concerns at this stage but if you still have concerns and feel you need to make a formal complaint, our full complaints procedure is detailed in this document. Making a complaint will not affect how your case is handled.

Making a formal complaint 

We are committed to providing a high-quality legal service to all our clients. If something goes wrong you need to tell us about it, so that we can put matters right. It will also help us to improve our standards.

If you are not satisfied with our response to your concerns having raised them to the person handling your matter and their supervisor, you should make a formal complaint which will be handled by our Complaints Handling Partner. 

What will happen next:-

  1. Within three days of receiving your complaint we will send you a letter acknowledging your complaint, let you know the name of the person handling your complaint and request you to confirm or explain any details which we require to investigate your complaint. If it seems that it would assist to resolve your complaint we will suggest a meeting with you. 
  2. We will record your complaint in our central register and open a separate file for your complaint. 
  3. The timetable/actions for investigating your complaint are likely to be as follows:
    • Within three days of receiving your complaint the person investigating your complaint will raise it with the person complained about, and where appropriate call for your file of papers.
    • Within fourteen days of receiving your complaint the person dealing with your complaint will either invite you to a meeting to resolve the complaint, or send you a detailed reply, which will include suggestions for resolving the matter.
  4. If you are still not satisfied that your complaint has been resolved, please let us know, and your complaint will be reviewed within fourteen days of you notifying us by another partner in this firm.
  5. We will let you know the result of this review within five days of completing the review and we will write to you confirming our final position on your complaint and explaining our reasons. 
  6. If you remain dissatisfied you have a right to take your complaint to the Legal Ombudsman, an independent complaints body established under the Legal Services Act 2007, that deals with legal services complaints. Their contact details are set out below.

What you may do if we cannot resolve your complaint

If we are unable to help you, then you can have the complaint independently looked at by the Legal Ombudsman. They will look at your complaint independently and it will not affect how your case is handled. 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 there are some time limits for taking your complaint to the Legal Ombudsman.

You should do so: 

  • Within 6 months of receiving our final response to your complaint.

and 

  • No more than 1 year from the date of act/omission about which you are complaining.

or 

  • No more than 1 year from when you should reasonably have known there was cause for complaint.

If you would like more information about the Legal Ombudsman their contact details are:

How the SRA can help you

The Solicitors Regulation Authority can help you if you are concerned about our behaviour. This could be for things like dishonesty, taking or losing your money, or treating you unfairly because of your age, disability, or other characteristic. You can raise your concerns with Solicitors Regulation Authority. 

Our commitment to you

We are pleased that we very rarely have to use our complaints procedure – and if any client is dissatisfied with our service, and wishes to use it, we will do our utmost to resolve the complaint to our client’s satisfaction.

Client feedback

I found Amanda very easy to deal with, she kept me in the loop and informed throughout the process, spoke in a language I understood and didn’t overpromise. She’s very professional, happy to answer questions, always courteous and knowledgeable.
Anika
Excellent job by Michelle with my conveyancing. Clear communication. Rapid responses. Everything you could want.
Graham
Michelle was our conveyancer for our recent house purchase. Her professionalism, thoroughness and quick responses throughout the process made the purchase as easy as possible for us - we are very grateful to her and the rest of the team at Winston Solicitors for their work.
Anonymous
had a great experience with winston solicitor company. The team was professional, friendly, and helpful throughout the whole process. Joe Rawnsley was fantastic. He kept me informed, answered all my questions, and made everything straightforward and stress-free. I’m very happy with the service I received and would highly recommend them to anyone looking for a reliable and trustworthy solicitor.
Bijan
They are very quick in replying and clarifying your questions. Also very smooth transaction process overall.
David
I have now used Winston’s for a number of services and highly rate them all round. My most recent experience was of their conveyancing team who have again been helpful from start to finish with the sale of my previous property and new purchase. The new purchase was not straight forward but Winston’s managed this extremely well with even the estate agent noting how helpful they were. I’m very appreciative to Michelle for her all her help with this
Jo
I used this practice for the conveyancing services (Michelle Ayres specifically). I could not recommend this practice more. I was away working outside of England for much of the time my house sale went through and I could not fault the communication, professionalism and advice I was given. Emails were responded to in a timely manner, they were fantastic throughout all negotiation with my buyer, were brilliant in explaining anything “legal speak” offered appropriate advice and really pushed on this process to ensure it moved from offer to exchange and completion. Really couldn’t recommend more.
Miss B
Amanda had been excellent from start to finish in our compensation claim. She has explained things very clearly at every stage and always answered our queries in a way that we could understand. She has a very friendly, professional and approachable demeanor and we would not hesitate to recommend her to anyone wanting to pursue a litigation claim.
David
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