Complaints Policy & Procedure
1. Purpose of this Complaints Policy
1.1. Monaco Solicitors Ltd welcomes and encourages feedback of all kinds from our customers. If you have a Complaint about our services, our customer service, or about our employees, agents, or subcontractors, we want to resolve it to your satisfaction. We also want to learn from it in order to improve our business and customer experience in the future.
1.2. It is our policy to resolve Complaints quickly and fairly. The aims of the policy are:
1.2.1. To provide a clear and fair procedure for any customer wishing to make a Complaint about Monaco Solicitors Ltd, or about our services, customer service, employees, agents, or contractors;
1.2.2. To ensure that everyone working for or with Monaco Solicitors Ltd knows how to handle Complaints made by our customers;
1.2.3. To ensure that all Complaints are handled equally and in a fair and timely manner;
1.2.4. To ensure that important information is gathered from Complaints and used in the future to avoid such a situation arising again.
2. What this Complaints Policy covers
2.1. This Complaints Policy applies to the provision of services by Monaco Solicitors Ltd, our customer service, customers and our employees, agents, and contractors.
2.2. For the purposes of this Complaints Policy, any reference to Monaco Solicitors Ltd also includes our employees, agents, and contractors.
2.3. Complaints may relate to any of our activities and may include (but not be limited to):
2.3.1. The quality of customer service you have received from Monaco Solicitors Ltd and
2.3.2. The behaviour and/or professional competence of our staff.
3. Making a Complaint
3.1. Complaints should be made within 21 days from the date of receiving this Complaints Policy.
3.2. All Complaints should be made in one of the following ways:
3.2.1. By emailing our Complaints Department at complaints@monacosolicitors.co.uk; or
3.2.2. In writing to Monaco Solicitors Ltd at 502 Peckham Levels, 95a Rye Lane, London, SE15 4ST.
3.3. When making a Complaint, you will be required to provide the following information in as much detail as is reasonably possible:
3.3.1. Further details of your Complaint including, as appropriate, all times, dates, events, and people involved;
3.3.2. Details of any documents or other evidence you wish to rely on in support of your Complaint;
3.3.3. Details of what you would like Monaco Solicitors Ltd to do to resolve your Complaint and to put things right.
4. How we handle your Complaint
4.1. Monaco Solicitors Ltd operates a two-stage Complaints handling procedure. Our aim is to resolve Complaints to your satisfaction at Level One. If you are not satisfied at the end of Level One, you may escalate your Complaint to Level Two, with progression to External Resolution as a last resort.
4.2. Level One and Level Two Complaints may be more appropriately discussed in detail over the phone, thus in some situations, they will be handled by phone.
4.3. Level One
4.3.1. Upon receipt of your Complaint, a Complaints Handler will log the Complaint and acknowledge receipt in writing within 14 business days.
4.3.2. The person named in the Complaint will contact you and try to resolve the matter. If it is more appropriate for a third party to try to resolve the complaint, it will be passed to another person to handle.
4.3.3. If we need additional information that we think is important to the successful resolution of the complaint, we will ask you for it. Please try to provide it promptly to avoid delays. If you do not provide it, we will attempt to proceed without it, but it may delay or otherwise affect the resolution.
4.3.4. The person named in the Complaint will try to resolve the issue with you within 14 days of our initial acknowledgement. However, if the issues are complex, or due to absences, this may not be possible. We will make every effort to inform you of any delay.
4.3.5. The purpose of Level One is to enable a two-way dialogue between the affected people rather than a one-off response from the subject of the Complaint.
4.3.6. Please note that in some situations, we will recommend a referral to Level Two immediately and bypass Level One. If this is the case, we will inform you accordingly.
4.4. Level Two
4.4.1. If you are not satisfied with the resolution of your complaint at Level One, you may, within 5 business days of the Level One conclusion, escalate your complaint to Level Two. In escalating your complaint, you should provide a detailed response to our approach thus far and your reasons for disagreeing with it.
4.4.2. Escalations should be directed to your original Complaint Handler (and copied to complaints@monacosolicitors.co.uk) who will forward the request to an appropriate Level Two Complaint Handler. We will endeavour to acknowledge your request in writing within 14 days.
4.4.3. We aim to resolve Level Two Complaints within eight weeks of receipt of your original complaint. However in some cases, particularly if your Complaint is of a complex nature, this may not be possible, in which case you will be informed.
4.4.4. As we are regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority, you have the right to seek External Resolution of your Complaint if you are not satisfied with the outcome of your complaint at Level Two.
4.5. External Resolution
4.5.1. If you are not satisfied with the resolution of your Complaint at Level Two, you may seek External Resolution of the Complaint from the Legal Ombudsman.
4.5.2. The Legal Ombudsman only reviews complaints brought within six months of receiving a final response to your complaint, and:
– No more than six years from the date of act/omission, or
– No more than three years from when you should reasonably have known there was cause for complaint.
4.5.3. To contact the Legal Ombudsman, call 0300 555 0333 or email enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk or via their website: http://www.legalombudsman.org.uk.
4.5.4. For details of complaint and conflict resolution mechanisms available from the Solicitors Regulation Authority, contact them via their website at http://www.sra.org.uk or call their contact centre on 0370 606 2555.
5. Confidentiality
All Complaints and related information are treated with the utmost confidence. Such information will only be shared with those employees, agents, or contractors of Monaco Solicitors Ltd who need to know in order to handle your Complaint.
6. Questions and further information
If you have any questions or require further information about any aspect of this Complaints Policy, please contact the office manager by phone at 020 7717 5259, or by email at complaints@monacosolicitors.co.uk.
7. Policy responsibility
Overall responsibility for this Complaints Policy within Monaco Solicitors Ltd, and the implementation thereof, rests with Alex Monaco, Senior Partner & Solicitor-Advocate (All Higher Courts).