Complaints Procedure

Vanderpump & Sykes LLP Complaints Procedure & Timescales

At Vanderpump & Sykes LLP we are committed to providing all clients with a quality legal service. We pride ourselves on our high standard of professionalism, so if you are unhappy with any aspect of the service you have received please do not hesitate to let us know.

Complaints Procedure

We set out below the steps to be taken by you if you wish to query or complain about our service. These steps are based on the guideline laid down by the Legal Ombudsman.

  1. In the first place we would recommend that you speak with the person dealing with your matter to explore the possibility of resolving matters informally.
  1. If you remain dissatisfied, or do not feel an informal approach is appropriate, please feel free to raise a formal complaint by contacting our Complaints Partner, for Probate, Litigation, Employment and Family please contact Inderjit Ahitan, by email (InderjitAhitan@vanderpumps.co.uk). For Commercial and Conveyancing complaints please contact James Porter, e mail (jamesporter@vanderpumps.co.uk). Please note that under the Legal Ombudsman Scheme Rules of 1 April 2023 any complaint must in the first instance, other than in exceptional circumstances, be raised with a firm’s designated complaints officer.
  2. Inderjit or James will then consider and set out their response to your formal written complaint within eight weeks of its receipt.

The Legal Ombudsman can help you if we are unable to resolve your complaint. They will consider your complaint independently, this will not affect how we handle your case. Before accepting a complaint for investigation, the Legal Ombudsman will check you have tried to resolve your complaint with us first.

By email: enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk 
By telephone: on 0300 555 0333
By post: Legal Ombudsman, PO Box 6167, Slough, SL1 0EH

Time Limits

  • The overall time frame for making a complaint to the Legal Ombudsman is one year from the date of the act or omission when you should reasonably have known that there were grounds for complaint.
  • In the first place you must raise your formal complaint in writing with the firm. If within 8 weeks of raising your complaint the complaint has not been resolved to your satisfaction you can then raise it with the Legal Ombudsman
  • You must make your complaint to the Legal Ombudsman within 6 months of the firm giving you its final decision.

*For more detailed guidance on bringing a complaint to the Legal Ombudsman please go to: https://www.legalombudsman.org.uk/information-centre/consumer-resources/bringing-a-complaint-to-us/

How to make a data protection complaint

If you have a concern about how we have collected, used, stored, shared, or otherwise processed your personal data, you can make a data protection complaint directly to us.

To make a complaint, please contact us using the details below:

Mr James Porter

jamesporter@vanderpumps.co.uk

020 8361 3999

When making your complaint, please provide:

  • Your name and contact details.
  • Details of your concern or complaint.
  • Any relevant dates or correspondence.
  • Details of the personal data or processing activity your complaint relates to, where known.
  • What you would like us to do to resolve your concern.

Please do not send unnecessary sensitive or confidential personal information as part of your complaint.

We will acknowledge your complaint and investigate it in accordance with our data protection complaints procedure. We may contact you if we need further information to investigate your concerns.

We will provide you with a written response explaining the outcome of our investigation and any action we have taken or intend to take.

If you are not satisfied with our response, or you believe we have not handled your personal data in accordance with data protection law, you may also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) (https://ico.org.uk/)