We are authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA). We are committed to high quality legal advice and client care and aim to offer all our clients an efficient and effective service. However, if our clients would like to discuss how the service to them could be improved, the level of their bill, or should there be any aspect of our service with which they are not satisfied, we ask them to please contact the person in our firm responsible for complaints handling: Helen Smith, Partner by telephone (+44) 07789-444605, by emailing helen@helensmithimmigration.co.uk or in writing to Helen Smith Immigration Limited, Steward House, 14 Commercial Way, Woking GU21 6ET.
We are committed to high quality legal advice and client care and are keen to resolve any concerns as soon as possible and in order to do this, will follow our complaints handling procedure.
Step One
If you have not already done so, please let us know the full nature of the problem. Ideally, we would prefer that your complaint be confirmed in writing in order that any scope for misunderstanding can be avoided. However, this is not obligatory and you are welcome to provide the details to our Complaints Handling Representative over the telephone or face to face. If you are setting out your concerns in writing then you can do this by emailing helen@helensmithimmigration.co.uk or writing to Helen Smith at Helen Smith Immigration Limited, Steward House, 14 Commercial Way, Woking, GU21 6ET.
Step Two
Our Complaints Handling Representative will write to you acknowledging your complaint within five working days. In this letter, we shall confirm what happens next.
Step Three
Our Complaints Handling Representative shall then investigate the matter by reviewing the matter file and speaking to the member of staff concerned within ten working days of acknowledging receipt of your complaint. If, for some reason, the matter cannot be investigated in this timeframe, then she will write to you notifying you of this together with the reason why and giving a revised timescale.
Once the investigation has been completed, if appropriate and necessary, she shall invite you to discuss the issue(s) you have raised and hopefully resolve the complaint. This could be a meeting, video conference call or telephone call and we can discuss your preference and what may be suitable at that time. This process of engagement will take place within ten working days of our concluding the investigation of the matter.
Our Complaints Handling Representative shall write to you within five working days of any meeting or call to confirm our discussion and the solution agreed upon and/or any final redress that is offered. Alternatively, if you do not want to or are unable to attend such a meeting or you would prefer to continue to correspond by letter or email (or if a meeting is not required), our Complaints Handling Representative will send you a detailed, written response, including my proposed solution, within fifteen working days of my concluding my investigation.
Step Four
If you are satisfied with my response following the above steps, that will be the end of the matter. However, if you are not satisfied, you should contact us again and we will review the decision or, depending on the circumstances, will arrange for a member of staff who is unconnected with the matter to review my decision. We will write to you within ten working days of receiving your request with confirmation of the firm’s final position in relation to your complaint, outlining the reasons and any final redress that is offered.
Step Five: Other avenues
You must always try complaining to us first. In most cases you will not be able to take your complaint further without allowing us the opportunity to put things right.
Legal Ombudsman
We are permitted a period of eight weeks to consider the complaint. If for any reason we are unable to resolve the problem between us within that timeframe, then you may ask the Legal Ombudsman to consider the complaint.
You are free to refer any complaint about our work, fees or level of service but there are some conditions and time limits. Please be aware that any complaint to the Legal Ombudsman must usually be made within six months of you having received a final written response from us about your complaint. Complaints to the Legal Ombudsman must usually be made within one year of the act or omission about 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.
For further information, please contact the Legal Ombudsman on 0300 555 0333or visit www.legalombudsman.org.uk. The Legal Ombudsman may be contacted at PO Box 6806, Wolverhampton WV1 9WJ.
Solicitors Regulation Authority
If you think a solicitor might be dishonest or you have concerns about their ethics or integrity, you also have the right to notify our regulator, the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA). There are no time limits for making a report but there are limits on what the SRA will consider. Please note that the SRA is not able to deal with issues of poor service (complaints of this nature should instead be referred to the Legal Ombudsman). For further information about the SRA’s role, please contact the SRA or visit: https://www.sra.org.uk/consumers/problems/report-solicitor.page#report.
Further Information
For further information about our complaints handling procedures, please do not hesitate to contact Helen Smith on +44(0)7789 444605, by emailing helen@helensmithimmigration.co.uk or by post to Helen Smith Immigration Limited, Steward House, 14 Commercial Way, Woking GU21 6ET.