Solicitors with GRIT.
1. Our Policy
You have the right to complain to us in the event you consider our Firm has breached the UK GDPR.
You can request a copy of this Complaint Procedure at any time.
We will issue a copy of this Complaint Procedure:
• On request.
• When you raise a complaint.
• On our website.
We shall aim to deal with any complaint that we may receive promptly, fairly, openly, and effectively.
We will aim to issue a final response within eight weeks of the date your complaint is received.
2. Making a Complaint
If at any point you become aware of or believe the Firm has breached the UK GDPR or any other
data protection law or regulations, then you should inform us immediately so that we can do our best
to resolve the problem.
You should raise your concerns with the Data Protection Officer who is Emma Price, by email to
eprice@rlksolicitors.com.
Making a complaint will not affect our relationship with you.
If you need to make a complaint, you should:
• Notify us as soon as possible.
• Provide your full name and contact details.
• Provide us with information for us to identify you.
• Be clear on what the issue is and how you would like it to be resolved.
• Wait for an acknowledgement within five working days of us receiving your complaint.
• Our aim is to resolve all complaints within eight weeks from the date of receipt.
3. Handling and Resolving a Complaint
We will write to you within five working days acknowledging your complaint.
We will investigate your complaint. This will usually involve:
• Reviewing your complaint.
• Reviewing any relevant documents.
• Liaising with those in the Firm who have engaged with you.
We may also need to ask you for further information or documents. If so, we will ask you to provide
the information within a specified period.
We will update you on the progress of your complaint at appropriate times.
We will provide you with a written outcome following an investigation into your complaint, outlining
what we have done and what we propose to do to resolve it.
We will respond to your complaint in writing within eight weeks of the date we receive it. If you are
not happy with our outcome, or we have not acknowledged your complaint within 30 days, or we
have not responded with an outcome within eight weeks, you can raise your complaint with the
Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).
Before accepting a complaint for investigation, the ICO will check that you have tried to resolve your
complaint with us first. If you have not, they are likely to reject your complaint and refer you to us.
If you would like more information about the ICO and its complaints procedure, please visit their
website for guidance on how to complain: https://ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint/data-protection-complaints/.
4. The Legal Ombudsman (LeO) and the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA)
As a law firm, in addition to meeting the requirements of the UK GDPR we are also required to meet
the requirements of the LeO and SRA.
Therefore, if you do not wish to raise your complaint with the ICO and we have not provided you
with an outcome within eight weeks, you can also contact the Legal Ombudsman, provided that you
fit one of the following categories:
• an individual.
• a business or enterprise that was a micro-enterprise (European Union definition) when it
referred the complaint to the authorised person.
• a charity that had an annual income net of tax of less than £1 million when it referred the
complaint to the authorised person.
• a club/association/organisation, the affairs of which are managed by its members/a
committee/a committee of its members, that had an annual income net of tax of less than
£1 million when it referred the complaint to the authorised person.
• a trustee of a trust that had an asset value of less than £1million when it referred the
complaint to the authorised person.
• a personal representative or beneficiary of the estate of a person who, before he/she died,
had not referred the complaint to the Legal Ombudsman.
They will look at your complaint independently and it will not affect how we handle your case. The
Legal Ombudsman’s service is free of charge and can investigate complaints about the legal service
you have received from us.
Before accepting a complaint for investigation, the Legal Ombudsman will check that you have tried
to resolve your complaint with us first.
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 from when you should have
known about the complaint. You must also refer your concerns to the Legal Ombudsman within six
months of our final response to you. The Legal Ombudsman will only extend these time limits if they
determine it to be fair and reasonable to do so.
If you would like more information about the Legal Ombudsman, please contact them as follows:
Website: www.legalombudsman.org.uk
Phone Number: 0300 555 0333 between 9am to 5pm.
Email: enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk
Address: Legal Ombudsman, PO Box 6167, Slough, SL1 0EH
For complaints that relate specifically to an alleged breach of the SRA Standards and Regulations
including the SRA Accounts Rules, you should refer the matter to the Solicitors Regulation
Authority (SRA). The SRA will not investigate complaints about services provided by the Firm. They
will refer such matters to the Legal Ombudsman.
Website: https://www.sra.org.uk/consumers/problems/
Phone Number: 0370 606 2555 between 8am to 5pm. Except Tuesday 9:30am to 5pm.
Contact page: https://www.sra.org.uk/home/contact-us
