Howells Complaints Procedure

Howells Solicitors is committed to providing a high-quality legal service to its clients. In the vast majority of cases our clients experience an excellent and unblemished service. If, however, something goes wrong, we would like to resolve the situation as quickly and efficiently as possible to your satisfaction. It is important that any problems you experience are reported to us in order that we may remedy the situation and make sure it does not happen again.

If you are dissatisfied with the service you have received we encourage you to raise it with the member of staff you are dealing with in the first instance - if you feel comfortable doing so. We hope that by doing this matters can be resolved quickly to your satisfaction. If you do not feel able to do that, or, you do so but do not arrive at a satisfactory outcome, you may use our formal complaint procedure.

How to make a formal complaint

Please send an email to clientcare@howellslegal.com or write to “The Compliance Department” at Howells Legal, Fitzalan House, Fitzalan Court, Cardiff, CF24 0EL. The letter or email you send should contain the following information:

1. Your full name and address.
2. The firm’s case reference.
3. The name of the individual who acts for you.
4. A concise outline of the complaint together with any supporting documents or evidence.

The formal complaints policy is available to clients of the firm. There are limited circumstances in which the firm will consider a complaint from a non-client, but it is rare. If you are a non-client and wish to utilise the policy you should explain why you think the firm should deal with your complaint. If you are an opponent of a client of the firm i.e. in a divorce or litigation, we will not deal with your complaint under any circumstances.

What will happen next?

1. We aim to acknowledge receipt of complaints within 4 working days of receipt.
2. We will then investigate your complaint. In order to do this we will consider any documents or evidence you supply and all our files and records. We will also speak to the individual member or members of staff who are dealing with your case.
3. It usually takes us up to 28 working days to consider and fully investigate your complaint. It may take longer if there are staff absences or if we are waiting for you to provide any clarification or further evidence that we request.
4. Once the complaint has been fully assessed we will do one of two things within 7 working days of completing the investigation.
   a.) We will either invite you to attend a meeting in person or by telephone to discuss your complaint; or
   b.)We will write to you with our findings and determination.

The timescale for dealing with a complaint (as set out above) is subject to the complexity of the issues. If a complaint is particularly complicated the investigation may take much longer than that required for a more straightforward matter. If that is the case we will inform you as soon as it becomes apparent that more time is needed.

As a regulated law firm our services are subject to the jurisdiction of the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) and the Legal Ombudsman (LeO).

If you are dissatisfied with the outcome of your complaint to the firm you may contact LeO to seek an independent adjudication. In order to refer a complaint to LeO you usually must have first exhausted the firm’s internal complaints policy. If we give you a final response to your complaint which you are not satisfied with you must generally refer your complaint to LeO within 6 months of that final response. The contact details for LeO are: The Legal Ombudsman, PO BOX 6806, Wolverhampton, WV1 9WJ; telephone: 0300 555 0333; website: https://www.legalombudsman.org.uk

A referral to the SRA is not appropriate if you have a complaint about service or advice, and rather, is only suitable if there are good grounds to suspect conduct by an individual or the firm which breaches the SRA Handbook / Code of Conduct.


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