J H Gabb & Co Ltd Complaints Handling Procedure

We are committed to high quality legal advice and client care. If you are unhappy about any aspect of the service you receive, or about the bill, please contact James Gabb on 01386 840483, via email at james@jhgabb.com or by post immediately.

You will receive an acknowledgement letter or email from us confirming receipt of your complaint and enclosing a copy of this complaints procedure. We may ask you to confirm or explain any details. We will also let you know the name of the person who will be dealing with your complaint, normally James Gabb unless he has had personal involvement in the matter, in which case a senior member of staff will deal with the complaint.

We will then record your complaint in our central register.

In some circumstances it may be appropriate for us to meet to discuss and hopefully resolve your complaint. If appropriate we might invite you to a meeting to discuss your complaint and we would hope this would be no more than twenty-one days after first receiving your complaint.

If you would prefer not to meet, or if we cannot arrange this within an agreeable timescale, we will write fully to you setting out his views on the situation and any redress that we feel to be appropriate. This would normally be within twenty-one days of receiving your complaint.

Within seven days of any meeting we will write to you to confirm what took place and any suggestions that we have agreed with you.

Should the timescales above not be attainable we will write to you as soon as possible to inform you of this.

Please be advised that the Legal Ombudsman allows us 8 weeks to try and reach a resolution to your complaint.

Legal Ombudsman

If we are unable to resolve your complaint then you can have the complaint independently considered by the Legal Ombudsman. The Legal Ombudsman investigates complaints about service issues with lawyers.
A complaint to the Legal Ombudsman must usually be made within 6 months of the date of our final written response to your complaint and within 6 years of the act or omission about which you are complaining taking place (or within 3 years of you becoming aware of it).

The Legal Ombudsman service is free of charge.

If you would like more information about this service, including the time limits for taking a case to them, please contact the Legal Ombudsman directly. You can find out more about their service by visiting www.legalombudsman.org.uk or contacting them on 0300 555 0333.

Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA)

We are also regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA). The SRA deal with complaints relating to dishonesty and conduct.
The SRA have wide ranging powers and deal with matters such as:

• The shutting down of a law firm without informing clients.
• Dishonesty or deliberately overcharging of clients.
• Taking or losing client money.
• Treating a client unfairly because of age, a disability or other characteristic.

Details can be found on the SRA website at www.sra.org.uk, by telephoning 0370 606 2555, or by writing to Solicitors Regulation Authority: The Cube, 199 Wharfside Street, Birmingham, B1 1RN.

Cost to complain

There is no cost to complain, however if we have submitted an invoice and it remains unpaid, we may be able to claim interest on the unpaid amount.

If you have a complaint about our bill generally, you have the right to apply for an assessment of the bill under Part III of the Solicitors Act 1974. The Legal Ombudsman may not deal with a complaint about the bill if you have applied to the court for an assessment of the bill.

We reserve our rights to charge interest at 8% on an unpaid bill.

Gabb Legal Limited are fully committed to providing a high quality service to all our clients. Any complaint by a client is a serious matter and is dealt with promptly. We will fully investigate the circumstances of the complaint and the issues that are raised and endeavour to put in place procedures to avoid any similar incidents occurring.