Complaints about the service you received from one of our panel of family solicitors

We can investigate concerns and complaints that relate to the service you received from one of our panel of family law solicitors. For example, if the solicitor did not contact you after you requested it, or if the solicitor did not provide the service as described on Advicenow.  

If you have a complaint about the service you have received, please contact us in writing, stating the nature of your complaint.

Please provide a clear description of your complaint. You will need to provide your full name and contact details.

We will initially try to resolve your complaint informally as this provides the quickest way to discuss your concerns and how we may be able to help to resolve or record them.

If it isn't possible to deal with a complaint or concern informally, we will move to the formal procedure.

In the first instance, the Complaints Committee has responsibility for handling complaints about this service.

In the formal procedure

1. We will respond to your initial contact within five working days, and we will explain what will happen next. We may ask you for more information and how you would like to see any issues resolved at this stage.
2. The Complaints Committee will then investigate the events surrounding your complaint and work with senior staff to reach a conclusion about what action will be taken.
3. Once the investigation is complete we will report back to you to let you know what we’ve done, the result of the investigation, and what we’ll do next. The investigation and report will be completed in 28 working days.

The complaints procedure for this service is based on the following principles:

• We will make sure the earliest possible resolution is sought to any concern or complaint and that it provides a fair and appropriate outcome for you, whether by formal or informal methods.
• We will respond to you in line with the vision, mission and values of Resolution’s Code of Practice, all of which emphasise the need for respect, objectivity, honesty and integrity.
• We will treat you with respect and fairness, and with due regard to the confidentiality of sensitive or legal information.
• We will consider each complaint without reference to race, religion, belief, gender reassignment, sex, sexual orientation, disability, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, or age.
• We will ensure that what we do and the decisions we make are transparent and reasoned and we will promptly inform you, and any others involved, of the progress we make.
• We will make sure you have the chance to put forward your concerns fully and that you are listened to.
• We will do all we can to minimise the stress of the process and will offer personal support to you throughout.

We will reflect upon, and try to learn from, each complaint so we can continue to promote and encourage high standards of practice within our service.

If you are not happy with the quality of the advice you received from the solicitor you had your appointment with you need to first bring this up with the solicitor and if you are not satisfied with how they deal with it you need to follow their firm's complaint procedure.

If you made a further appointment with a solicitor, without going through the Advicenow website again,  please use that solicitor’s firm’s internal complaints procedure as this procedure will no longer apply.

If you would like to complain because you believe the solicitor you had your appointment with broke Resolution’s Code of Practice, you need to use Resolution’s complaints procedure. Please see Complaints and concerns for more detail.