TIMESCALES
The length of time that your transaction will take can be subject to a number of factors. Timescales are subject to change depending on when your offer is accepted and other factors involved, such as:
- The number of parties in a chain
- Whether a buyer has a mortgage in place
- Whether a buyer requests a lease extension for a leasehold property
- Dealing with managing agents and freeholders in leasehold transactions
- Whether searches flag up any issues
- Whether a buyer’s survey shows up any issues
- Enquiries raised by the buyer’s or their conveyancer
COMPLAINTS
We will always strive to provide you with an efficient and professional service and sincerely hope that the question will never arise, but if something goes wrong we need you to tell us about it and if you have a complaint or query about the service that we provide please do contact us. When you tell us about a problem, we will always try to resolve it quickly and fairly.
In the first instance please raise any concern or query with the person dealing with your file. If matters cannot be resolved or if you have any outstanding queries about your case please arrange to contact our complaints manager, Joanna Verrico, to discuss the problem. The complaint will then be investigated in accordance with our complaints procedure which is set out below.
COMPLAINTS PROCEDURE
- Once we have received your complaint, Joanna Verrico will write to you within 7 days to explain how your complaint will be investigated if a complete response to your complaint has not been made by that time.
- A senior lawyer will then investigate your complaint, review your file and speak to the case handler who acted for you.
- You will be told the latest date by which a complete answer will be given to your complaint (this should be not more than 28 days after we received your complaint). If you have made the complaint verbally – either at a meeting or on the telephone – we will set out in our full response our understanding of the nature of your complaint. The assessment of the complaint will be based upon a sufficient and fair investigation. We will explain in writing our findings and where the complaint is upheld will offer remedial action or redress. This will be actioned promptly.
- You will be invited to attend a meeting to discuss and hopefully to resolve your complaint within 14 days of our acknowledgement letter.
- Within 5 days of the meeting you will receive a letter confirming the outcome of the meeting.
- If you decline the invitation to attend a meeting a senior lawyer will send to you a detailed written reply to your complaint within 21 days of sending you the acknowledgement letter.
- If you are still not satisfied, you should contact us again and we will arrange for an independent consultant to review the matter.
- We will write to you again within 14 days of such review confirming our final position on your complaint and explaining our reasons.
- If you are still not satisfied, you can then contact the Legal Ombudsman, PO Box 6806, Wolverhampton WV1 9WJ. Email: enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk.
- You can refer your complaint to the Legal Ombudsman up to 6 months after you have received our final written response to your complaint. You can also use the Ombudsman service if we have not resolved your complaint within 8 weeks of us receiving it. A complaint can be referred to the Legal Ombudsman up to 6 years from the date of the act or omission or up to 3 years after discovering a problem. The ombudsman deals with service-related complaints; any conduct-related complaints will be referred to the Council for Licensed Conveyancers.
- If you make a valid claim against us for a loss arising out of work for which we are legally responsible, and we are unable to meet our liability in full, you may be entitled to claim from the Compensation Fund administered by the Council for Licensed Conveyancers (from whom details can be obtained).