Our Complaints Procedure

We are committed to investigating all complaints promptly, in order to determine their validity, cause, effect and the opportunity for future prevention. 

We appreciate that our clients may have issues to address with their Conveyancing Team during the course of their conveyancing transaction from time to time. The Convey Law Complaints Procedure is designed to differentiate between issues, which are capable of being dealt with on an informal basis, and more serious complaints, which will require more in depth analysis and will need to be dealt with in accordance with our formal complaints process.

It is our policy at Convey Law to provide you with a service of the highest possible standard at all times.  We will endeavor to resolve your complaint thoroughly and we aim to resolve all issues raised by our clients within a period of 28 working days wherever possible.

The Informal Complaints Process

Informal Complaints – Initial Contact

In the event that you are not satisfied with the service you have received or in the event that you have serious concerns in relation to your transaction, please raise the issues you have with the Conveyancer who has conduct of your transaction, either in writing or by telephone in the first instance.

Upon receipt of your communication, your Conveyancer will ascertain the nature and severity of the issues raised and will look to ensure that the issues raised are addressed as quickly as possible.  Your Conveyancer will review your file of papers promptly, in an attempt to resolve the issues raised and deal with your concerns immediately, during the same working day whenever possible.

Should you feel that this course of action is not appropriate, or has been exhausted, please contact our Conveyancing Supervisor, Mr Gareth Richards, by telephoning 01633 261252 or by email at grichards@conveylaw.com.

Informal Complaints – Stage A

Our Conveyancing Supervisor, Gareth Richards, will contact you by telephone upon receipt of your communication, during the same working day if possible, in order to obtain details of the issues that need to be addressed and in order to ascertain what action needs to be taken in order to alleviate the issues of concern immediately, wherever possible.

The Conveyancing Supervisor will review your file of papers and discuss the conduct of your case and the issues that you have raised with your Conveyancer. 

The Conveyancing Supervisor and your Conveyancer will attempt to remedy the issues raised and provide you with a verbal update as to the progress that has been made in this respect. 

When necessary, a full written response in relation to the issues raised will be provided by the Conveyancer, within 3 working days (and in any event no later than 7 working days) following communication of your dissatisfaction. Wherever possible the written response will detail an appropriate course of action in order to alleviate the issues raised and provide a clear plan in order to ensure the progression of your transaction, if appropriate.

Informal Complaints – Stage B

In the event that Informal Complaints Stage A has not been successful in alleviating the issues raised, please re-contact our Conveyancing Supervisor, Mr Gareth Richards. The Conveyancing Supervisor will communicate with you by telephone upon receipt of your communication, during the same working day if possible, in order to ascertain the details in relation to your complaint that are still outstanding and what action needs to be taken in order to alleviate the issues of concern immediately, wherever possible.

The Conveyancing Supervisor will review your file of papers and discuss the conduct of your case with your Conveyancer as appropriate.  The Conveyancing Supervisor will look to work with you in conjunction with your Conveyancer in order to ensure that your issues are dealt with and that your transaction is not impeded as a result of the issues that have arisen.

Wherever possible, communication by telephone and email will be the preferred course of action in order to ensure that the issues raised are dealt with as quickly as possible. The Conveyancing Supervisor will attempt to deal with the issues raised and provide you with a clear plan of action, without recourse to protracted correspondence, wherever possible.

A note of your complaint will be recorded in our Complaint Register and we will allocate you a Complaint Reference Number. Our Complaint Register is reviewed by the Senior Team and the Conveyancers at Convey Law on a monthly basis.

The Formal Complaints Process

Formal Complaint – Stage A

In the event that the action outlined in our Informal Complaints process has been extinguished and the issues raised have not been resolved, the following procedure will be adopted:-

1. Our Conveyancing Supervisor, Mr Gareth Richards will request that you outline your complaint to us in writing.

2. The Conveyancing Supervisor will aim, within 3 working days (and in any event no later than 7 working days) of receipt of your written complaint to record your complaint in our Complaint Register (if we have not already done so); allocate you a Complaint Reference Number and open a separate file for your complaint.  The acknowledgment letter will confirm the contact details of the person dealing with the complaint, your complaint reference number and if necessary further information in relation to the complaint will be sought. A copy of our Internal Complaints Procedure will also accompany the acknowledgement letter.

3. Within 7 working days of receipt of your written complaint and the implementation of our Formal Complaints Procedure, the Conveyancing Supervisor will aim to report back to you in writing of the outcome of the investigation of the complaint and providing, wherever possible, suggestions for resolving the matter. Where a full response cannot be given in this timeframe, the Conveyancing Supervisor will acknowledge receipt of the complaint, provide you with the reasons for any such delay and commit to respond fully within 28 days.  The report will include the following information:-

• a clear explanation of the Conveyancing Supervisor’s assessment of the complaint;
• our decision on it,
• an offer of remedial action and/or redress where a complaint is upheld;
• You will also be given the opportunity to discuss the complaint with the Conveyancing Supervisor in person or over the telephone.

Formal Complaint – Stage B

In the event that you are still not satisfied, please notify us of your dissatisfaction in writing. You will be informed, in writing, that the matter will be escalated to our Legal Director, Mrs Debbie James, for adjudication. You will be provided with full contact details for the appointed Legal Director. You will be given the opportunity to meet and discuss the report with the Legal Director. The appointed Legal Director will review your file of papers and your complaint and will look to contact you by telephone with a view to resolving the issues raised. In the event that it is not possible to reach agreement by telephone, an adjudication report will be provided within 7 working days of receipt of confirmation of your continued dissatisfaction. Where a full response cannot be given in this timeframe, the Legal Director will provide you with the reasons for any such delay and commit to respond fully within 28 days. The report will include the following information:- 

• a clear explanation of the Legal Director’s assessment of the complaint;
• our decision on it,
• an offer of remedial action and/or redress where a complaint is upheld;
• information on our complaint-handling review procedure, its timeframes and how it can be accessed;
• information on your right to refer the complaint to the Legal Ombudsman, its timeframes and contact details.

Formal Complaint – Stage C

In the event that you are still not satisfied, after having extinguished our internal complaints procedure, you may contact the Legal Ombudsman directly to ask them to consider the complaint further. The contact details for the Legal Ombudsman are as follows:-

Tel no: 0300 555 0333
Email: enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk
Website: www.officeforlegalcomplaints.org.uk www.legalombudsman.org.uk

Legal Ombudsman
PO Box 6806
Wolverhampton
WV1 9WJ

The Legal Ombudsman will expect you in the first instance to allow us to consider and respond to your complaint in accordance with the procedure set out above. You may refer your complaint to the Legal Ombudsman up to 6 months after you have received our final written response to your complaint (or within 12 months after you have discovered a problem, whichever is the sooner).  You can also refer your complaint to the Legal Ombudsman if we have not resolved your complaint within 8 weeks of receiving your complaint. The Legal Ombudsman deals with service related complaints only and will refer any conduct related complaints it receives to the Council for Licensed Conveyancers.

Conclusion

It is our policy at Convey Law to provide you with a service of the highest possible standard at all times.  We will endeavor to resolve your complaint thoroughly and expeditiously and look to provide a pragmatic solution to the issues raised wherever possible.