If you wish to register a complaint, please contact Paul Spencer (head of legal practice) at ps@sgduk.com or telephone 02476 257481. A summary of our internal complaints handling procedures for the reasonable and prompt handling of complaints is continued below and if you cannot settle your complaint with us, you may be entitled to refer it to the ICAEW or Legal Ombudsman Service (see below).
At no cost
Complaints must be undertaken free of charge and clients must be advised of this.
We confirm that no charges will be levied in relation to complaints.
Clients must be informed of the SGD complaints procedure
This is contained in our terms and conditions and legal section of our website.
Our complaints procedure should be accessible
Complaints should preferably be received in letter or email form to avoid misunderstanding. If an audio or video complaint is made it will be documented by the firm into a written attendance note and shared with the complainant.
Who to contact
The probate contact principal Head of Legal Practice is Paul Spencer to whom all complaints should be addressed.
The steps for handling the complaint.
All complaints will be dealt with fairly and independently we need our clients to have confidence in all that we do.
All complaints will be acknowledged within five business days of receipt and we will endeavor to deal with the complaint subsequently within eight weeks.
Escalation options
If we do not deal with the complaint in this timescale or the client is unhappy with our response then the client may take this matter up with our professional body The Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) and the Legal Ombudsman. Complaints to the Legal Ombudsman should be made within six years of the act or omission or within three years of SGD becoming aware of the issue and in either case within six months of our written response to the client complaint to us.
The contact details for the Legal Ombudsman are:
Post to: Legal Ombudsman
PO Box 6167
Slough
SL1 0EH
or
Email to: enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk
or
Tel: 0300 555 0333
The Legal Ombudsman deals with complaints about our professional service. Any complaint about our professional conduct should be referred to ICAEW’s conduct department.
The contact details of the ICAEW are:
Complete claim form found at icaew.com/complaint
Post to: ICAEW (Conduct Department)
Metropolitan House
Avebury Boulevard
Milton Keynes
MK9 2FZ
or
Email to: complaints@icaew.com