Our complaints policy
We are committed to providing a high-quality legal service to all our clients. When something goes wrong, we need you to tell us about it. This will help us to improve our standards.
Our complaints procedure
If you have a complaint regarding the way your matter has been dealt with then please contact our Complaints Team who are available on :01204 939 679 or complaints@swiftlawyers.co.uk. Alternatively, write to us providing details of your complaint, at Swift Lawyers, Tymark House, 47 Breightmet Street, Bolton, BL2 1BR.
What will happen next?
We will send you a letter acknowledging receipt of your complaint, enclosing a copy of this procedure.
We will then investigate your complaint.
Once the investigation is complete, if required, we will invite you to a meeting or telephone call to discuss the nature of your complaint and hopefully resolve your complaint; we endeavour to do this within 28 days of sending you the acknowledgement letter.
Within 3-5 days of the meeting/telephone call, we will write to you to confirm what took place and any details of solutions that have been agreed.
If a meeting is not required or you do not want a meeting then we will send you a detailed written reply to your complaint. This will include any suggestions for resolving the matter and will be sent within 28 days of the acknowledgement letter. If you prefer an alternative method of communication then please detail this in your letter of complaint.
At this stage, if you remain dissatisfied, then you should contact us again and we will arrange for an alternative manager to review the decision.
We will write to you within 28 days of receiving your request for a review to confirm our final position regarding your complaint and explaining our reasoning.
If you are still dissatisfied, you can contact the Legal Ombudsman about your complaint.
Ordinarily, you can ask the Legal Ombudsman to look at your complaint if it meets ALL three of the steps below:
- The problem, or when you became aware of the problem, happened after 5 October 2010; and
- You are referring your complaint to the Legal Ombudsman within either of the following: One year from the date of the act or omission being complained about. Or one year from the date when the complainant should have realised that there was cause for complaint.
- You are referring your complaint to Legal Ombudsman within six months of our final response.
If your complaint does not meet all of these time limits the Legal Ombudsman may not be able to investigate it.
Please note, if we have to change any of the timescales above, we will let you know and explain why.
The contact details for the Legal Ombudsman are as follows:
Telephone Number: 0300 555 0333
Email: enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk
Postal address: Legal Ombudsman, PO Box 6806, Wolverhampton, WV1 9WJ
What to do if you are unhappy with our behaviour
The Solicitors Regulation Authority can help if you are concerned about our behaviour. This could be for things such as dishonesty, taking or losing your money, or treating you unfairly because of your age, a disability, or any other characteristic.
Visit their website to see how you can raise your concerns with the Solicitors Regulation Authority.