1.   We are committed to providing a high-quality legal service.

2.   We acknowledge that we may not always get it right, so if something has gone wrong, including in relation to our charges, we need you to tell us. Please inform us immediately so that we can do our best to resolve the problem for you and this will help us to improve our standards of service.

3.   Complaints about our service

3.1 If you wish to make a complaint regarding the legal services we are providing to you, please see the procedures below.

4.   How do I make a complaint?

4.1 You can contact us in writing (by email or letter) or by telephone.

4.2 Please contact our Client Care Officer who has overall responsibility for complaints and whose contact details are: Helen Grieves, Grieves Solicitors, Britannic Building, 3 Upperhead Row, Huddersfield, HD1 2JL, email: helen.grieves@grieves-solicitors.co.uk, or by telephone 01484 300192.

4.3 To help us to understand your complaint, and in order that we do not miss anything, please tell us:

4.3.1 your full name and contact details;

4.3.2 the details of your complaint;

4.3.3 how you would like your complaint to be resolved; and

4.3.4 your file reference number (if you have it).

4.4 If you require any help in making your complaint we will try to help you.

5.   How will you deal with my complaint?

5.1 We will write to you within two working days acknowledging your complaint, enclosing a copy of this policy.

5.2 We will investigate your complaint. This will usually involve:

5.2.1 reviewing your complaint;

5.2.2 reviewing your file(s) and other relevant documents; and

5.2.3 liaising with the person who dealt with your matter (where this is not the complaints handler).

5.3 We may also need to ask you for further information or documents. If so, we will ask you to provide the information within a specific period of time.

5.4 We will update you on the progress of your complaint at appropriate times.

5.5 We may also, if appropriate, invite you to a meeting to discuss your complaint. You do not have to attend if you do not wish to or if you are unable to. We will be happy to discuss the matter with you by telephone or video conference.

5.6 We will write to you at the end of our investigation to tell you what we have done and what we propose to do to resolve your complaint. Where possible, we will aim to do this within 21 days of the date of our letter of acknowledgement.

6.   What to do if we cannot resolve your complaint

6.1 We have eight weeks to consider your complaint. If we have not resolved it within this time you may be able to complain to the Legal Ombudsman. This applies if you are an individual, a business with fewer than 10 employees and turnover or assets not exceeding a certain threshold, a charity with a net income of less than £1m, a trust with an asset value of less than £1m, a club/association/organisation the affairs of which are managed by its members/a committee/a committee of its members with a net income of £1m, or if you fall within certain other categories (you can find out more from the Legal Ombudsman). The Legal Ombudsman will look at your complaint independently and it will not affect how we handle your matter.

6.2 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

6.2.1 within six months of receiving a final response to your complaint.

and

6.2.2 no more than one year from the date of the act or omission being complained about:

or

6.2.3 no more than one year from the date when you should reasonably have known there was cause for complaint.

6.3 If you would like more information about the Legal Ombudsman, please contact them.

Contact details

Visit: www.legalombudsman.org.uk
Call: 0300 555 0333 between
Email: enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk
Legal Ombudsman PO Box 6167, Slough, SL1 0EH

6.4 Alternative dispute resolution (ADR) bodies exist which are competent to deal with complaints about legal services should both you and our firm wish to use such a scheme, e.g. such as ProMediate (www.promediate.co.uk). We have, however, chosen not to adopt an ADR process. If, therefore, you wish to complain further, you should contact the Legal Ombudsman.

7.   Data protection complaints

7.1 We are committed to providing a high-quality service and seek to comply with data protection principles in accordance with data protection law. If you wish to make a complaint regarding a data protection issue, please see the procedures below.

8.   How to make a data protection complaint

8.1 You can contact us by any of the following methods:

8.1.1 Completing our Data Protection Complaints Form. If you prefer this method, please let us know so we can send you a copy. The form can be emailed or posted to Helen Grieves at the contact details below. Please note completion of this form is entirely optional and you may prefer to use any of the other methods below to contact us;

8.1.2 You can telephone our Data Protection contact, Helen Grieves, on 01484 300192;

8.1.3 You can email our Data Protection contact in 8.1.1 above at Helen.Grieves@grieves-solicitors.co.uk;

8.1.4 You may write to our Data Protection contact in 8.1.1 above with details of your complaints to Helen Grieves, Grieves Solicitors, Britannic Building, 3 Upperhead Row, Huddersfield, HD1 2JL.

9.   Acknowledging and verifying your data protection complaint

9.1 We will acknowledge your complaint within 30 days of receiving it (being the timescales set out in the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025).

9.2 We will take reasonable steps to verify the identity of the person making the complaint. This may involve requesting further information or documentation from you. If the complaint is made on behalf of someone else, we will also need to check that the person making the complaint is properly authorised to do so.

9.3 If, having requested additional information, we are not in a position to identify the person making the complaint or we are not satisfied that they have proper authority to make the complaint, we may be unable to deal with it.

10.   Investigating your data protection complaint

10.1 We will investigate your complaint, which usually involves:

10.1.1 Reviewing your complaint;

10.1.2 Locating and reviewing the records we hold about you;

10.1.3 Establishing the relevant facts; and

10.1.4 Liaising with individuals who may have dealt with you (if this is applicable)

10.2 We may also need to ask you for further information or documents. If so, we will ask you to provide the information within a specific period of time.

10.3 We will update you on the progress of your complaint at appropriate times.

11.   Notifying you of the outcome of our investigation

11.1 We will inform you of the outcome of the complaint without undue delay.

11.2 We will explain clearly what we’ve done to resolve your complaint and, where appropriate, any action we have taken as a result.

12.  What to do if we cannot resolve your data protection complaint

12.1 If you are unhappy with the outcome of your complaint, you can complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), or you can seek to take action in the courts.

13.  The ICO’s contact details are:

Contact details

Visit: Information Commissioner’s Office
Call: 0303 123 1113
Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF

13.1 More details on how to complain to the ICO are available on the Complaints page of the ICO’s website. You should usually submit your complaint to the ICO within three months of your last contact with us.

14.  What to do if you are unhappy with our behaviour

14.1 The Solicitors Regulation Authority can help 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.

14.2 Visit its website to see how you can raise your concerns with the Solicitors Regulation Authority.

15.  What will it cost?

15.1 We will not charge you for handling your complaint.

15.2 Please note that if we have issued a bill for work done on the matter, and all or some of the bill is not paid, we may be entitled to charge interest on the amount outstanding. This is set out in our Terms of Business.

15.3 The Legal Ombudsman and Information Commissioner’s complaints service is free of charge.