Our complaints procedure

We are committed to providing a high-quality legal service to all our customers. When something goes wrong, we need you to tell us about it as this will help us to identify problems and ensure that we offer a better service.

If you have a complaint about any aspect of the service you have received from Co-op Legal Services, please contact us by email at complaints@coop.co.uk or by writing to the Compliance Officer for Legal Practice (COLP), Co-op Legal Services, 1 Angel Square, Manchester M60 0AG.

What will happen next?

1. Where possible we will always try and resolve any query with you directly as they are raised.

2. If we are unable to resolve your query informally, we will acknowledge receipt of your complaint within 3 business days of receiving it, enclosing a copy of this complaint handling procedure.

3. We will then investigate your complaint. This will normally involve assigning a Team Manager to deal with your complaint who will review the service we provided and talk to the member/s of staff who assisted you. The Team Manager may want to discuss the issues directly with you and hopefully resolve your complaint.

4. The Team Manager will then send you a detailed written reply to your complaint, including suggestions for resolving the matter, within 21 days of sending you the acknowledgement.

5. At this stage, if you are still not satisfied, you should contact us again and we will arrange for the Customer Service Manager to review the decision and provide our final response to you within a further 21 days.

6. If you are unhappy with our final response, you may refer the unresolved aspects of your complaint for consideration by the Legal Ombudsman. The Legal Ombudsman is an independent body which provides a free service to resolve complaints about legal services providers.

The Legal Ombudsman can be contacted at: PO Box 6167, Slough, SL1 0EH. Telephone number: 0300 555 0333 E-mail: enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk. Website: www.legalombudsman.org.uk. The Legal Ombudsman expects complaints to be made to them within one year of the date of the act or omission about which you are concerned or within one year of you realising there was a concern. You must also refer your concerns to the Legal Ombudsman within six months of our final response to you.

1. Alternative complaints bodies (such as Pro Mediate UK Limited) exist which are competent to deal with complaints about legal services should both you and our firm wish to use such a scheme. We do not agree to use such a scheme due to the existence of the Legal Ombudsman Service.

Complaining to the Solicitors Regulation Authority

The Solicitors Regulation Authority can 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 find out more about how to complain to the Solicitors Regulation Authority at SRA | Reporting an individual or firm | Solicitors Regulation Authority.

Address: Solicitors Regulation Authority, The Cube, 199 Wharfside Street, Birmingham, B1 1RN Telephone: 0370 606 2555 Email: report@sra.org.uk Website: www.sra.org.uk

We will try our best to keep to the timescales above. If we are unable to do so though, we will let you know and explain when we will be able to respond.