If you wish to review the level of services we provide for you, raise any concerns or provide feedback, please contact the person with primary day to day conduct of your matter in the first instance.

If this is not possible, or your concerns are unresolved, please contact our Client Care team who will deal with your concerns as a formal complaint under this policy.

To help us investigate your concerns and provide a full response, please contact our Client Care Team by email at clientcare@knightsplc.com, including an explanation of:

• Why you feel dissatisfied with the service you have received;
• How you would prefer to be contacted about your complaint going forward;
• If there is anything in particular that you would like us to do to resolve your complaint.

Alternatively, if you prefer, you may write to us at Client Care Team, Knights, The Brampton, Newcastle-under-Lyme, ST5 0QW. If you prefer to speak to us by telephone, please call 0345 646 0704 and ask to speak to a member of the Client Care Team. If they are unavailable, your call will be returned within one business day.

We will acknowledge your complaint, by email or by post, within two working days of receipt. We will then investigate your concerns, which may include reviewing the relevant files, and discussing the issues with those working on your matter.

We will contact you if we need any further information from you and, if appropriate, arrange a mutually convenient time to discuss the complaint by telephone or video call. Once our investigation is complete, we will provide a formal written final response, setting out our conclusions and, where appropriate, any proposals to rectify or resolve the matter. We will also remind you of your right to refer your complaint to the Legal Ombudsman at the end of our complaints process.

We will not charge you for investigating and responding to your complaint.

PLEASE NOTE: Complaints are handled independently of the legal work on your matter. If the legal work on your matter is ongoing, it will continue to progress as normal, assuming no conflict of interests have arisen and you continue to comply with the terms of our engagement as set out in our client contract.

If you have any concerns whilst your complaint is being investigated, please contact the Client Care team.

Our terms and conditions of service require invoices to be paid within 30 days, regardless of any complaint having been made. Any outstanding sums due to us will be recovered in the normal way, in accordance with those terms separately from the complaint process.

If the complaint investigation finds that an adjustment or reduction in fees is appropriate, reimbursement will be made promptly at that time.

We aim to complete our investigation and provide a final response as quickly as possible and, in any event within eight weeks of receiving your complaint.

If our investigations cannot be completed within this timeframe, we will notify you in writing and seek to agree an extension where necessary.

This is rare and is most likely when we need the input from third parties outside of our business.

If our investigation finds that our service has fallen below our usual high standards, we will apologise. Where appropriate, we may propose steps to resolve your complaint, and will take internal action to prevent a recurrence.

If you remain dissatisfied after receiving our final response, or if you have not received a final response within eight weeks of submitting your complaint, you may be entitled to refer your complaint to the Legal Ombudsman. The Legal Ombudsman will normally expect you to have completed our complaints procedure before doing so.

The Legal Ombudsman investigates complaints independently and accessing the service will not affect how we handle your case (if the complaint is ongoing).

Most private individuals and small businesses can use the Legal Ombudsman scheme, but some restrictions apply to larger organisations. These are set out in the Scheme Rules, which can be accessed on the Legal Ombudsman website.

Complaints must usually be made to the Legal Ombudsman within one year of the act or omission about which you are complaining, or one year from becoming aware of the issue.

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

You can contact the Legal Ombudsman, or find further information about eligibility and timescales using the following details:

Address:  Legal Ombudsman Service, PO Box 6167, Slough, SL1 0EH

Tel: 0300 555 0333

Minicom: 0333 555 1777

Email: enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk  

Website: www.legalombudsman.org.uk

If your complaint relates to our invoice, you may, in addition to referring the matter to the Legal Ombudsman, be entitled to ask the court to assess our costs under Part III of the Solicitors Act 1974.

Please note that if you do so, the Legal Ombudsman may be unable to consider a complaint about the same issues.

The Legal Ombudsman considers complaints about the quality of legal services provided to clients. In the unlikely event that you have concerns about professional misconduct by a solicitor or us, it may be appropriate to raise these with the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA).

We do not anticipate such issues arising, but please notify us immediately if you have concerns of this nature. Further information about the SRA, and the Standards and Regulations governing solicitors and law firms, using the contact information below:

Solicitors Regulation Authority, The Cube, 199 Wharfside Street, Birmingham  B1 1RN.

Tel: 0370 606 2555

Web: www.sra.org.uk

Other ADR services providers are available to deal with complaints in the legal sector, including ProMediate. However, we consider the Legal Ombudsman the most appropriate forum for clients to seek resolution of their concerns.

Therefore, we have not adopted an alternative ADR procedure and do not agree to use another ADR organisation.