Regulation Information
Acorn Solicitors LLP trading as Acorn Solicitors is authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (registration number 838648) whose rules can be found at:
http://www.sra.org.uk/solicitors/handbook/code/content.page
Registered in England under Partnership No. OC 439962.
Acorn Solicitors VAT registration number is 943 2423 38.
A list of partners is available for inspection at the registered office.
The Registered Office is 126 High Street, Street, Somerset, BA16 0ER.
The offices for Acorn Solicitors are:-
Acorn House, 50 Upper High Street, Taunton, Somerset TA1 3PY
126 High Street, Street, Somerset, BA16 0ER
COMPLAINTS OR CONCERNS
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 of service.
What happens if you are dissatisfied with the service you have received?
If you are not happy with the service you have received, please raise this first with the member of staff concerned or, if you do not feel able to discuss this with him or her, the person responsible for overall supervision of the work. If you are a client (or their representative), he or she will have been named in the
client care letter we sent you at the outset of the work.
If you do not feel able to speak to either of them, or you are not satisfied with their response, you should contact our Senior Partner J David Sinclair, setting out full details of your concerns, or the issues you have.
50 Upper High
Street, Taunton, Somerset TA1 3PY
Tel: 01823 273010
Email: [email protected]
INTERNAL INVESTIGATION
They will arrange for your complaint to be investigated in accordance with the procedure set out below.
· Within two working days of contacting us, you will be sent an acknowledgement, which will tell you who will be investigating your complaint. The person investigating your complaint will not be someone who has been involved in the matter.
· We will fully investigate your complaint and will aim to conclude our investigation, within 28 days of our acknowledgement or the date by which we have agreed with you the issues of concern if clarification is needed.
· Our investigation will include a review of your file in relation to the issues you have complained about and we may, if we think it appropriate, invite
you to a meeting to discuss your concerns. At the end of our investigation we will send you a detailed reply confirming the outcome of our investigation into your complaint.
· If we are unable to conclude our investigation within 28 days, we will contact you to explain why and give you a revised date by which we hope to
provide our substantive response.
INTERNAL REVIEW
· If you are dissatisfied with the outcome of our internal investigation, you can request an internal review of our investigation by contacting our Senior
Partner. Alternatively, you can ask the Legal Ombudsman to investigate.
· If you want an internal review, you must request it within 14 days of the date of our substantive response, and explain why you believe that our
initial decision was incorrect.
· We will send you an acknowledgement within two working days of receiving your request for an internal review. We will aim to conclude our internal
review and provide you with our decision within 28 days of this acknowledgment.
WHO CAN COMPLAIN?
Most complaints are likely to come from clients. However, beneficiaries, third parties, other professionals and suppliers, may also complain to us, if they have received, been offered or been refused the benefit of a service.
WILL I BE CHARGED?
You will not be charged for the investigation of your complaint.
WHAT RESOLUTION CAN I EXPECT?
If we find evidence of poor service we will seek to provide an appropriate remedy. This might include:
· An apology;
· Compensation for loss suffered;
· Compensation for inconvenience, distress or both;
· Putting things right;
· Reducing the bill or limiting fees.
If we find that there has been no poor service we will fully explain why we have come to this conclusion.
If you are not satisfied with our handling of your complaint, you can ask the Legal Ombudsman to investigate.
LEGAL OMBUDSMAN
The Legal Ombudsman (an independent complaints body which investigates complaints from consumers about their legal service providers in England and Wales) is introducing updated Scheme Rules, effective from 1st April 2023.
A key change relates to the timescale to refer complaints to the Legal Ombudsman – this is reducing to within 1 year from the date of the act or omission about which you are concerned or within 1 year from when you should reasonably have known there was cause for complaint.
The requirement to refer complaints to the Legal Ombudsman within 6 months of receiving a final response from the firm about a complaint will remain the same under the new Rules.
The Legal Ombudsman will have discretion to extend the timescale beyond 1 year where it considers it would be fair and reasonable to do so, however this will not be a given and will be considered on a case-by-case basis.
For more information, please refer to our internal Complaints Procedure. To view the Rules in full, please see the Scheme Rules on the Legal Ombudsman’s website.
Legal Ombudsman
PO Box 6806
Wolverhampton
WV1 9WJ
Tel: 0300 555 0333
SOLICITORS REGULATION AUTHORITY
The Solicitors Regulation Authority can also help you if you are concerned about our behaviour. This could be for things like dishonesty, taking or losing your money or treating you unfairly because of your age, a disability or other characteristic. You can raise your concerns with the Solicitors Regulation Authority
We have an Unacceptable Behaviour Policy in place to protect our Staff, please click here to view.