Status

Fraser Dawbarns LLP (“the Firm”) is a Limited Liability Partnership which is registered at the Law Society number OC353893 and authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority.

Complaints Procedure

We do not put into effect our complaints procedure if the matter is clearly a minor one which is quickly put right.

On receipt of a complaint:

1. We will acknowledge receipt of the complaint by sending a letter to the person making the complaint within 3 days of receiving it, enclosing a copy of this procedure.
   
   
2. We will then investigate the complaint.
   
   If you have not made your complaint in writing we may request you to do so to clarify the nature of your complaint.
   
   As part of the investigation procedure we may ask you to provide us with further details to assist us to consider your complaint.
   
   Generally, the complaint will be dealt with by the Head of the Department to which the complaint relates. In some situations the complaint may be passed to our Client Relations Manager namely David Osborne who can be contacted at our King’s Lynn Office (see details below).
   
   
3. After investigating the complaint we shall send you a written reply to your complaint. We aim to do this within 21 days of sending you the letter in which we acknowledged receipt of your complaint. In some cases (due to the nature of the complaint and the circumstances in question) it may take us longer to provide a written reply.
   
   
4. If, on receipt of our written reply you are still not satisfied, you should contact us again (setting out your reasons for being dissatisfied with our written reply) and we will review the matter.
   
   
5. We will write to you within 14 days of receiving your request for a review, confirming our final position on your complaint.
   
   
6. If you are still not satisfied, you can contact: Legal Ombudsman, PO Box 6167, Slough, SL1 0EH about your complaint. Any complaint to the Legal Ombudsman must usually be made within 6 months of the date of our final written response on your complaint. For further information, you should contact the Legal Ombudsman on 0300 555 0333 or at enquiries@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.

The firm’s Client Relations Manager is David Osborne who may be contacted at 21 Tuesday Market Place, King’s Lynn, Norfolk. PE30 1JW or by email davidosborne@fraserdawbarns.com or by telephone 01553 666600.

The Solicitors Code of Conduct can be found on the Solicitors Regulation Authority website at www.sra.org.uk

If you have a concern about the professional conduct of a solicitor or other employee of the firm, in the first instance you can raise your concern with the firm’s Compliance Officer for Legal Practice, Tony Cheetham, who may be contacted at 21 Tuesday Market Place, Kings Lynn, Norfolk, PE30 1JW or by email (colp@fraserdawbarns.com) or by telephone (01553 666630). You can also contact the SRA and make a report through their website at www.sra.org.uk/consumers/problems/report-solicitor

It is important to appreciate that if a complaint is made to us we still may be entitled to charge interest on any of our bills that remain unpaid.

The Legal Ombudsman may not deal with a complaint about a bill if the client has applied to the court for assessment of that bill.

VAT Number

Our VAT number is 750873712

Professional Indemnity Insurance

We maintain professional indemnity insurance in relation to the services that we provide. Our insurers are the International Insurance Company of Hannover of 60 Fenchurch Street, London, EC3M 4AD. The territorial coverage of our insurance is England & Wales.

Financial Services – Investment & Insurance

We are not authorised under the Financial Services & Markets Act 2000, nor are we regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, but we are able, in certain circumstances, to offer a limited range of investment services to the client because we are members of the Law Society of England and Wales. We can provide these investment services if they are an incidental part of the professional services we have been engaged to provide. If while we are acting for you, you need advice on investments, we may have to refer you to someone who is authorised to provide the service.

Fraser Dawbarns LLP is not authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority. However, we are included on the register maintained by the Financial Conduct Authority so that we can carry on insurance mediation activity, which is broadly the advising on, selling and administration of insurance contracts. This part of our business, including arrangements for complaints or redress if something goes wrong, is regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority. The register can be accessed at the Financial Conduct Authority website.

The Law Society of England and Wales is a designated professional body for the purposes of the Financial Services & Markets Act 2000. The Solicitors Regulation Authority is the independent regulatory body of the Law Society. The Legal Ombudsman is the independent complaints handling body responsible for handling complaints against solicitors (see details above). If you are unhappy with any investment advice you receive from us or with any insurance advice you receive from us, you should raise your concerns with either of those bodies.