COMPLAINTS PROCEDURE

INTRODUCTION
We aim to provide a high standard of professional service but if at any time you feel that this is not being maintained,
we want to know so that we can do our best to resolve the problem:

By this complaints procedure, we aim to:

 provide clear and easy to use information for those wishing to make a complaint;
 provide a prompt response and our assurance that the matter is being reviewed;
 make sure all complaints are investigated fairly and in a timely way;
 make sure that all complaints are, wherever possible, resolved;
 gather information that helps us to improve our service.
WHAT TO DO IF YOU HAVE A COMPLAINT
Local resolution
If appropriate and if you agree, please discuss your concerns with the partner responsible for your case.

The partner responsible will investigate your concerns by seeking information from the member of staff concerned,
from the documents on the file and from anyone else who may be involved and will contact you with a proposal for
resolution.

Risk and compliance resolution

If the proposal is not acceptable to you, or if you would prefer not to discuss the matter with the partner, you may
request that the risk and compliance team take over. The risk and compliance team will in any event be notified of the
complaint in order that it may be recorded in our central register. The risk and compliance team work with the
complaints partner who oversees the handling of complaints.

The risk and compliance team’s details are:

Risk and compliance, Penningtons Manches LLP

Da Vinci House, Basing View, Basingstoke, Hampshire, RG21 4EQ
e: complaints@penningtons.co.uk

Alternatively, you may call our switchboard on 01256 407100 and ask to be put through to a member of the risk and
compliance team in order to discuss a complaint.

A member of the risk and compliance team will contact you to acknowledge your complaint, letting you know the name
of the person who will be dealing with your complaint, and may ask you to confirm or provide further details.

Risk and compliance will record your complaint in our central register and will then investigate your complaint and
send you a detailed reply. This will include our suggestions for resolving the matter.

If in the course of the investigation we think it would be helpful, we may invite you to discuss the matter with a member
of the risk and compliance team or the complaints partner with a view to finding out more and seeking to resolve your
complaint. Following that discussion we will write to you to confirm what was discussed and propose our suggested
resolution to the complaint. If you do not want to discuss the matter with us or it is not possible, we will send you a
detailed reply to your complaint as above.
WHEN CAN YOU EXPECT TO HEAR FROM US?
The risk and compliance team aim to acknowledge your complaint and confirm who is dealing with it within two
working days. Thereafter our aim is to ensure that we have properly addressed your concerns within as short a
time as possible although the length of time taken will depend on the complexity of your matter and complaint. In
any event we aim to provide our final response to your complaint within eight weeks of you making it

REFERRAL TO THE LEGAL OMBUDSMAN

If you are not satisfied with our handling of your complaint, you may contact the Legal Ombudsman, which is an
independent and impartial scheme that deals with complaints about our work or our service.

The Legal Ombudsman’s details are:

PO Box 6806, Wolverhampton, WV1 9WJ

t: 0300 555 0333
e: enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk

You should contact the Ombudsman no later than:

 six months after receiving our final response to the complaint and
 six years from the date of act/omission or, where later, no more than three years from when you should
reasonably have known there was cause for a complaint.

Before accepting a complaint for investigation the Legal Ombudsman will usually check that you have tried to resolve
your complaint with us first and that the complaint falls within their jurisdiction as set out in their scheme rules.

If you would like more information about the Legal Ombudsman, please contact them or visit their website
www.legalombudsman.org.uk

MISCONDUCT ALLEGATIONS
If your concern is about professional misconduct, such as dishonesty or discrimination, rather than the way in which
we have provided a service, please do discuss this with us, by contacting the risk and compliance team using the above
contact details. We take any such allegation seriously and would welcome the opportunity to discuss this with you. If
we are unable to resolve your misconduct concerns, you are entitled to refer the matter to the Solicitors Regulation
Authority.

Visit the SRA’s website at https://www.sra.org.uk/consumers/problems/report-solicitor.page for details of how to

submit a report.

WHO CAN MAKE A COMPLAINT UNDER THIS PROCEDURE?

If you are a previous, current or prospective client, or a beneficiary of a trust or estate that we represent, you may
submit a service complaint under this procedure. You may submit your complaint personally or via a representative if
you would prefer.

Any person may raise an allegation of misconduct under this procedure.