We put our clients first and are fully committed to ensuring the care and service that we provide you with is of  the highest quality. When this is not the case, we need to know about it.

We have an internal complaints procedure in place so that we can deal with any concerns that you may have promptly and rigorously in order to come to a solution that is, hopefully, to your satisfaction.

If for any reason you are not happy with our proposed resolutions, you may take your matter further by making a complaint to the Legal Ombudsman or by raising your concerns to our regulators, the SRA.

Our aim is to ensure that any concerns or complaints that our clients may have are identified and dealt with in accordance with our complaints policy and its procedures.

Internal Complaints Procedure.

Concerns about client care matters

If you feel there’s an issue with the client care you have received we ask that you initially raise your concerns with the person acting on your case in order to give them the opportunity of resolving this with you. We find that more often than not, these type of matters can be quickly resolved in this way.

Complaints about legal services you’ve received

If you are unhappy about any aspect of the legal service you have received please contact Castelo Solicitors’ Partner – Ana Afonso – via email at ana@castelosolicitors.com or phone on 020 3441 5095.  You can also write to her at Castelo Solicitors, 20 Victoria Street, London, SW1H 0NF

Complaints concerning our bills

If you have a complaint about the bill, please contact our accounts manager Cely Lima via email at cely@castelosolicitors.com or phone on 020 3441 5095.  You can also write to her at Castelo Solicitors, 20 Victoria Street, London, SW1H 0NF

What we will do

  • When we receive a complaint we will acknowledge it within seven days. We will then commence a full investigation and review of your matter and respond to your complaint in full within 28 days of this being referred to us.
  • Sometimes we may require a little more time with complaints of a more complex nature and in these cases we’ll advise you of when you can expect to receive a full response.
  • On conclusion of our investigation, we will reply to you in writing with our findings and how we propose to resolve your complaint.
  • If you are dissatisfied with the outcome, or the way your complaint has been handled, you may write to us again to request a further review of it and within 28 days of this, we will inform you of any alternative proposals to resolve your complaint.
  • All investigations will be concluded in full within an 8 week time period.  If you are unhappy with the final outcome you may take your complaint to the Legal Ombudsman within 6 months of this 8 week period expiring.

Taking Matters Further.

If we are unable to resolve your complaint then you can have the complaint independently looked at by the Legal Ombudsman and/or The Solicitors Regulation Authority.

Making a complaint to the Legal Ombudsman

The Legal Ombudsman is an independent organisation that investigates complaints about service issues with lawyers such as:

  • Quality of professional service.
  • Alleged breaches of professional conduct.
  • Whether a solicitor’s charges are fair.
  • Whether your complaint has been handled correctly.

The Legal Ombudsman cannot and will not give legal advice, determine whether a solicitor has been negligent, review the outcome of a court case or a decision of the Legal Aid Agency.

In general, the Legal Ombudsman requires the internal complaints procedure to be followed and exhausted before it will consider a complaint. In cases where the Legal Ombudsman is satisfied that our proposals for resolving your complaint are reasonable, it may decline to investigate further.

Time Frame

When making a formal complaint to the The Legal Ombudsman, you are required to do so within one year of the date of the act or omission about which you are concerned or within one year of you realising there was a concern.

You must also refer your concerns to the Legal Ombudsman within six months of our final response to you.

Contact Information

The Legal Ombudsman
PO Box 6806
Wolverhampton
WV1 9WJ
Tel: 0300 555 0333
enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk
www.legalombudsman.org.uk

Raising concerns with The Solicitors Regulation Authority

The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) set the rules that law firms and the solicitors who work for them must follow.

If you are concerned about our conduct you can raise the matter with the SRA who will review and investigation the allegations. You can find more information about raising your concerns with the SRA at www.sra.org.uk.

Or you can get in touch with their contact centre for guidance on the complaints process,

Contact centre

The Cube
199 Wharfside Street
Birmingham
B1 1RN
DX 720293 BIRMINGHAM 47
0370 606 2555

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