Last updated on September 25, 2015
There are very few situations where you would find yourself in a position where you would wish to make a claim against your accident compensation helpline, solicitor or law firm. If you are not satisfied with the service that’s been provided, rather than make a claim against them it is better to make a complaint instead. In fact in 2012, The Legal Ombudsman (LeO) went on record to say that people should not be afraid to complain about their lawyer.
Making a complaint against your accident compensation helpline
There are a few ways that you can make a complaint against your accident compensation helpline, solicitor or law firm. The main three ways are:
1. Through The Legal Ombudsman
The Legal Ombudsman can resolve complaints about the service provided by lawyers. This can be your first or last step, depending on whether you choose option #3.
2. Through The Law Society
The Law Society can resolve complaints made against lawyers who are members. The Law Society recommends you contact LeO, however you can raise an issue with them too.
3. Through the accident compensation helpline, solicitor or law firm in question.
These will have their own internal complaints procedures and if you are not happy with any outcome, you can make another complaint about with The Legal Ombudsman.
Discussing your grievances with your representative
If you are not yet at the stage of making a complaint but you have grievances with the service that’s been provided to you, it will definitely be worth talking to the person in question directly or if you do not feel up to this, a senior member of that organisation who will be able to raise these concerns for you. Based on your grievances, you might be advised by the person you make contact with to raise a complaint. By doing so, you will ensure that your concerns are addressed fully and you will have a timeframe for any response.
Making a claim
As mentioned above, it’s rare for this to happen as the circumstances for doing so would need to be extreme. An example is if your accident compensation helpline processed a claim without your full and written consent, and then charged you when you cancelled. This would be classed as misselling, and if a complaints procedure did not remedy this, then you may find that threatening to make a claim in the small claims court will. But, let’s not get ahead of ourselves – if you are not satisfied with the service that’s been provided to you, you should express your concerns with one of the options above. Only then can you expect a full and proper solution.
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