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Quality of Service & Complaints
Walsh West Estates & Probate Lawyers Ltd

Our aim is to provide you with a high quality service at all times that is efficient and effective. As a client of Walsh West, if at any point you would like to discuss with us how our service could be improved, become unhappy with any aspect of the service you have received, or if you are dissatisfied with the service that you are receiving we need you to tell us about it immediately so we can do our best to put things right.

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Quality of service and Complaints Procedures

 

Here at Walsh West Estates & Probate Lawyers Ltd  we aim to provide the best possible service to all our clients, so if you have any concerns, please contact the individual managing your matter as soon as these arise so that they can be addressed promptly. If this does not address the issue to your satisfaction, you can raise a formal complaint, by contacting us.

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In the first instance, please raise any concerns or queries directly with the person handling your work,

you can contact your case manager or by contacting our Client Care Team using any of the following :

by phone, or via our main line on 0203 488 7503.

by email at legal@walshwestlaw.com

or by post to our offices at:

Walsh West Estates & Probate Lawyers Ltd, Warlies Park House,

Horseshoe Hill, Upshire, Waltham Abbey, Essex, EN9 3SL

If you prefer you may ask to speak to our Managing Director Ms Emma Walsh

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After this, if you remain dissatisfied and would like to make a formal complaint, please detail the nature of your complaint

in writing and send it to us at: Warlies Park House, Horseshoe Hill, Upshire, Waltham Abbey, Essex, EN9 3SL.

To help us understand your complaint and to ensure we do not miss any relevant information please provide:

your full name and contact details, and information about what you think has gone wrong and when this occurred.

Please mark your letter for the urgent attention of the Managing Director, Ms Emma Walsh.

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We will then investigate your complaint, which will involve reviewing the file and speaking to relevant members of staff.

We may need further information from you and will contact you if this is necessary. If appropriate we may invite

you to a meeting to discuss the complaint. You would not be required to attend if you do not wish to, and we would

be happy to discuss the matter with you on the telephone if you prefer.

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At the end of our investigation, we will provide you with a written response detailing our findings and outlining what action we propose to take. We aim to do this within 28 days of receiving your complaint but will advise you in advance if this period needs to be extended.

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Upon receipt of our letter detailing the outcome of our investigation and our proposed action,

we would ask that within 14 days you contact us to either inform us:

  • That you are satisfied with the action that has been taken and that we can therefore close the complaint, or

  • That you are dissatisfied with what is proposed.

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Where you are dissatisfied with the outcome of our investigation, we will carry out a further review of the

complaint and consider any new information, if there is any. We will aim to do this within 14 days and then

provide you with a final written response to your complaint detailing the findings and proposed action.

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If your complaint relates to the service we have provided and you are still not satisfied with the outcome in our

final written response to you or we have not provided a final written response to your complaint within 8 weeks of

receiving it, then you may be able to have the complaint independently looked at by the Legal Ombudsman.

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The Legal Ombudsman investigates complaints relating to poor service, but before accepting a complaint for investigation the Legal Ombudsman will check that you have tried to resolve your complaint with us first.

If you have, and you are not satisfied with the outcome, then you can take your complaint to the Legal Ombudsman:

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  • Within six months of receiving a final response to your complaint and

  • No more than six years from the date of the act / omission that gave rise to the complaint; or

  • No more than three years from when you should reasonably have known there was cause for complaint.

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**From 01 April 2023 the timeframe will change to**

  • Within six months of receiving a final response to your complaint and

  • No more than one year from the date of the act / omission that gave rise to the complaint; or

  • No more than one year from when you should reasonably have known there was cause for complaint.

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The legal Ombudsman can be contacted by:

 

As the firm is authorised by the CILEx Regulation, if your complaint relates to the misconduct of a CILEX member

or CILEX Practitioner (ACCA Probate), you can refer your complaint free of charge to CILEx Regulation for them

to investigate. Misconduct is defined as any breach of the CILEX Code of Conduct: 2.-Code-of-Conduct-2019.pdf (cilexregulation.org.uk) Misconduct complaints must be made within 12 months of the act or omission that

gave rise to the complaint or within 12 months of the complainant having knowledge of the act or omission

that gave rise to the complaint, whichever is the greater.

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CILEx Regulation can be contacted by:

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Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) bodies such as London Arbitration Centre, 62 Tunstall Drive, Accrington, www.londonarbitrationcentre.com exist which are competent to deal with complaints about legal services should both you

and our firm wish to use such a scheme. Currently we do not agree to using an ADR scheme as we believe our own inhouse investigation supported where necessary by that provided by the Legal Ombudsman and CILEx Regulation is sufficient.

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