Compulsory Professional Indemnity Insurance

In accordance with the disclosure requirements of the Provision of Services Regulations 2009, details of this firm's compulsory professional indemnity insurance are available on request. For further information about compulsory professional indemnity insurance please email Alex Sherwood (alex@sherwood-solicitors.co.uk) or call him on 01273 608221

Complaints

If you are unhappy about any aspect of the service you have received, or about any invoice you have received, we will provide a copy of our complaints procedure on request. You should then contact in writing or by telephone, with details of your complaint Alex Sherwood.

We will investigate the matter promptly and thoroughly and provide a written response. If you are still unhappy, we will review the handling of your complaint and report back to you in writing.

This letter will contain details of the Legal Ombudsman, who should be contacted if you are still not satisfied. The Legal Ombudsman will look at your complaint independently and will not affect how we handle your case. 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 then you must take your complaint to the Legal Ombudsman:

If you are still not satisfied, you can then contact the Legal Ombudsman about your complaint provided you do so within six months of the end of our Internal Complaints Handling Procedure.

In addition, there are time limits relating to the date you first became aware or should have become aware of the problem. The relevant time limits are set out in the version of the Legal Ombudsman's Scheme Rules in force from time to time (which can be accessed HERE or by contacting the Legal Ombudsman (using the contact details provided below) and may only be extended by the Legal Ombudsman in exceptional circumstances.

You must take your complaint to the Legal Ombudsman:

• Within six months of receiving a final response to your complaint, and
• No more than one year from the date of act/omission; or
• No more than one year from when you should reasonably have known there was cause for complaint.

Ordinarily, you cannot use the Legal Ombudsman unless you have first attempted to resolve your complaint using our internal Complaints Handling procedure, but you will be able to contact the Legal Ombudsman if:

• The complaint has not been resolved to your satisfaction within eight weeks of first making the compliant to us; or
• The Legal Ombudsman determines fair and reasonable circumstances why the Legal Ombudsman should consider your complaint sooner, or without you having to use our internal Complaints Handling Procedure first; or
• The Legal Ombudsman considers that your complaint cannot be resolved using our internal Complaints Handling Procedure because the relationship between you and us has broken down irretrievably.

If you wish to make a complaint to the Legal Ombudsman, you must be one of the following:

• An individual;
• A micro-enterprise as defined in European Recommendation 2003/361/EC of 6 May 2003 (broadly, an enterprise with fewer than 10 staff and a turnover or balance sheet value not exceeding €2 million);
• A charity with an annual income less than £1 million;
• A club, association or society with an annual income less than £1 million;
• A trustee of a trust with a net asset value less than £1 million; or
• A personal representative or the residuary beneficiaries of an estate where a person with a complaint died before referring it to the Legal Ombudsman.

If you are not, you should be aware that you can only obtain redress by using our Complaints Handling Procedure or by mediation or arbitration, or by taking action through the Courts.

Legal Ombudsman Contact Details

Address:	PO Box 6167, Slough SL1 0EH
Telephone:	0300 555 0333
Email:	Click Here
Website:	Visit website

Complaining to the Solicitors Regulation Authority

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, a disability or other characteristic.

Address:	Solicitors Regulation Authority, The Cube, 199 Wharfside Street, Birmingham, B1 1RN
Telephone:	0370 606 2555
Email:	Click Here
Website:	Visit website

Alternative Dispute Resolution

Where we are not able to settle your complaint using our internal complaints process, there are alternative complaints bodies (such as the Ombudsman Services HERE) which are competent to deal with complaints about legal services should both you and our firm wish to use such a scheme.

Please let us know if you would like to consider using an alternative complaints body to resolve your complaint.