Our Complaints Policy

Penderlaw is 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. Please be assured that your complaint will be dealt with promptly, fairly and free of charge.

Our complaints procedure

If you have a concern or a complaint that has not been dealt with to your satisfaction by the person handling your case, please contact us as soon as you are aware of the problem so this can be addressed. Please contact our Management Team, in writing at Penderlaw Solicitors, 11 High Cross, Truro TR1 2AJ, or by email management@penderlaw.co.uk. 

What will happen next?


1. Acknowledgement
We will acknowledge receipt of your complaint within three working days of receiving it. We will also provide you with a copy of this complaints procedure.


2.Investigation
We will investigate your complaint by reviewing the relevant matter file(s) and discussing your concerns with the members of the team involved in your matter.


3.Initial response
We aim to resolve your complaint within twenty-one working days of acknowledging it.

Depending on the nature of your complaint, we may invite you to a meeting or telephone call to discuss your concerns. If we do so, we will write to you within three working days of that meeting or call to confirm the outcome and any solutions or actions agreed.

Alternatively, we may provide our response in writing without arranging a meeting or telephone call.

If a meeting or telephone call is not appropriate, or you do not wish to have one, we will provide you with a detailed written response to your complaint, including our suggestions for resolving the matter.


4.Review
If you remain dissatisfied with our response, please let us know in writing, explaining why you remain unhappy and what you would like us to review.

We will review your comments and, where appropriate, arrange for a member of the management team who was not involved in the original decision to review the complaint.


5.Final response
We will provide you with our final written response within twenty-one working days of receiving your request for a review. This will confirm our final position on your complaint and explain the reasons for our decision.

In any event, we will provide our final response within eight weeks of receiving your complaint.

If we need to change any of the timescales outlined above, we will let you know and explain why.

6.Legal Ombudsman
If you are still not satisfied with our response, or if we have not provided a final response within eight weeks of receiving your complaint, you may be entitled to refer your complaint to the Legal Ombudsman.

The Legal Ombudsman investigates complaints about the service provided by regulated legal service providers, including complaints about costs and billing.


You must take your complaint to the Legal Ombudsman:

  • within six months of receiving our final response to your complaint; and
  • no more than one year from the date of the act or omission being complained about; or
  • no more than one year from the date when you should reasonably have known that there was cause for complaint.


You can contact the Legal Ombudsman:

Further information about the Legal Ombudsman’s eligibility requirements, time limits and Scheme Rules is available on the Legal Ombudsman’s website.

Legal Ombudsman Scheme Rules

Concerns about conduct
If you have concerns about the conduct or behaviour of a solicitor or our firm, rather than the service we have provided, you may be able to report your concerns to the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA).

This could include concerns about matters such as dishonesty, misuse of client money or other serious breaches of the SRA’s rules or professional standards.


Visit the SRA’s website to find out how you can raise your concerns with the Solicitors Regulation Authority.

Solicitors Regulation Authority – Problems with a solicitor or firm