Terms & Conditions

Our Service

Thank you for choosing Osbourne Pinner Limited.

It is important to us that you understand and agree how we will work for you. This leaflet sets out the standard of service that you can expect from us and the terms of our work. Please keep it for future reference. These terms apply unless we vary them in writing or they are varied by changes in the law or the regulation of solicitors. Your continuing instructions will amount to your acceptance of our terms and conditions of business.

Our commitment to you:

Put your interest first when we represent you.

Ascertain your objectives and try to ensure your expectations are realistic. Explain things clearly in plain English to ensure your understanding.

Agree with you the work that we will do.

Keep you regularly informed of progress and send you copies of key documents. Keep your business confidential and refuse to act for others if that could compromise your confidentiality.

Explain all cost issues and financial risks to you and provide you with regular updates.

Advise you on any circumstances and risks of which we are aware or consider to be reasonably foreseeable that could affect the outcome of your matter.

Advise you of any relevant changes in the law.

Deal with your enquiries as promptly as possible. Be polite and considerate in our dealings with you.

Treat you fairly, and not discriminate against you because of your race, religions,

age, sexual orientation or disability.

What we ask you to do:

Provide us with clear, timely and accurate instructions. Provide all documents that we require of you. Safeguard any documents likely to be required.

Attend all scheduled appointments on time. Notify us of any change in your contact details.

Respond to any of our queries or requests in a prompt manner. Pay our fees promptly.

Contact and communication

You are welcome to contact us by letter, e-mail, fax & telephone. Our normal office hours are: 9:30am – 5:30pm Monday – Friday. We have an answering service and messages can be left or emails sent to us outside those hours. For your convenience, where necessary, appointments can be arranged at other times. 

The client will need to remain in contact with the firm. If the client does not reply to any communication from the firm for a period of four months. It will be taken that the client no longer wishes to procced with our services and their matter will be closed. After this period a new engagement will need to be agreed and acquired again. A copy of the previous matter will be kept in line with current guidelines

We will aim to communicate with you in the most effective way and by such reasonable method as agreed between us. If we agree to use e-mail, we will take precautions to ensure it is virus free, although this cannot be guaranteed. Any digital information that you provide to us will be subject to virus checks and there may be instances where we may not allow certain documents or digital files into our environment although we would seek to resolve any difficulties that may arise. Unless you withdraw consent, we may communicate with yourself and others when appropriate by email or fax but we cannot be responsible for the security of correspondence and documents sent by email or fax. Under the Telecommunications (Lawful Business Practices) (Interception of Communications) Regulation 2000 we reserve the right to monitor e-mail correspondence between you and any mail recipient at our firm.

The Data Protection Act requires us to advise you that your particulars are held on our database. We may, from time to time, use these details to send you information, which we think, might be of interest to you.

Your lawyer

Your lawyer will tell you their qualifications and expertise and will carry out most of the work for you, with some assistance from others. We will only change your lawyer if it is unavoidable and we will tell you promptly of any change. All work is carried out under the strict supervision of Kanchan Gooransingh who is a Solicitor and Principal of the firm.

Appointments

As a general rule very rarely will a person be seen if he/she attends our office without an appointment. Please ensure that you make an appointment before attending our offices as it will not only avoid disappointment if the solicitor is unavailable or not in the office, or no interpreter is present, but it will also save you from having to wait whilst those clients with appointments are being dealt with.  We also appreciate you arriving on time for all appointments.

Fees & Expenses

We believe our fees should be easy to understand. We will check whether your legal costs may be payable by anyone else, such as an insurer. Costs can vary according to the complexity of a matter and at the outset we will attempt to give you our best estimate of likely costs. We aim to update you regularly about our estimated costs. To assist you in keeping track of costs and expenses, we may issue interim bills for costs already incurred and may ask you for payments on account of future costs. All interim bills will be credited against the final account at the end of the matter. We usually calculate our fees on the basis of the time it takes to perform the work during normal office hours. All initial meetings to discuss a new matter are chargeable unless we specifically inform you otherwise. The applicable hourly rate for your matter will be agreed with you and confirmed in writing. We will notify you in writing of any change in rates that may affect you.

We charge for our work in units of 6 minutes and includes meetings, working on documents, making and receiving telephone calls (including leaving and returning messages), writing and receiving letters, faxes and emails, travelling, waiting and representation. We only charge for necessary travel by the most appropriate means. Travel and waiting time are charged at two thirds of our advised hourly rate.

We may agree a fixed fee where appropriate and may be in relation to a specific piece of work that we do for you. If so, we will advise you in writing. Any work that falls outside the remit of the “fixed fee” will be charged at the hourly rate.

We are a niche Private Client firm and as such we do not provide “Legal Aid” assistance but will inform you if you are likely to be eligible for public funding and will signpost you to appropriate providers.

Disbursements and other expenses

Please note that in addition to our fees you will be responsible and will be charged for any disbursements and expenses incurred or to be incurred on your behalf during the conduct   of your   matter.   Examples   of disbursements   and expenses   include: Application fees, Court fees, expert’s reports, expert’s attending trial, and barristers’ fees are known as disbursements’ and have to be paid by you in addition to the fees we have agreed with you either at fixed fee or hourly rate. We will inform you as best as we can, what the likely disbursements and expenses will be. Please note that it is impossible to be exact as we are unable to foresee any complexity that may arise in your matter.

If it is necessary for us to instruct an expert or barrister on your behalf, we will inform you about the costs involved and will ask you to pay these fees on account of costs before the expert or barrister is instructed to do the work for you. In relation to barristers’ fees, we may also in certain circumstances, assign the collection of the fee to the barrister.

Costs

If you wish to set an upper limit on the costs the firm may incur on your matter, please confirm this to us in writing. We will then contact you when this limit is being approached to discuss the issue of cost further.

If you are unsuccessful in a dispute, you may be liable for all or some of your opponent’s costs. Even if you are successful, you will not usually be able to recover all of your costs from your opponent because of the way the courts assess costs and you may remain liable to pay all of our costs. If an opponent is being publicly funded, or your matter is being dealt with by the employment tribunals or small claims procedure, you may not be able to recover any costs, even if you are successful. You have been informed that regardless of the outcome of the case, you remain liable to pay all of our costs, disbursements & expenses incurred on your matter. In some cases, a client may be entitled to payment of costs by another party. You should appreciate that in such circumstances, the other party may not be required  to pay  all  the charges and disbursements which you incur with us. You must pay our charges and disbursements in the first place and any amounts which can be recovered from the other party will be a contribution.

Payments on account

There may be circumstances in which we will expect you to make payment to us on account of our fees and any expenses that are to be incurred in connection with our work. We will tell you in advance if this is the case.

Any money that you pay to us on account will be held in our client account at Lloyds Bank Plc and unless agreed to the contrary you will be entitled to interest on it. We will offset that money on account, and any interest which accrues on it, against your bills, although our total fees and expenses may be greater than any advance payments.

Interest paid by us

If we hold clients’ money in our client account, we will pay interest in accordance with the SAR.  Subject to minimum amounts and periods, interest is payable at the same rate as would be paid by a bank. If the interest exceeds £20 the full amount of interest will be paid to you.  We will not pay interest if it does not exceed £20 as the administrative costs exceed the sum payable.

Lien

If you decide to instruct alternative solicitors or deal with matters yourself, we are entitled to retain your papers until all fees and disbursements are paid.  We will also need your written authority to transfer the file.

Legal aid

We are not able to carry out legally aided work.

Money Laundering Legislation

For the protection of all of our clients and in accordance with Money Laundering Legislation we operate a money laundering procedure. In certain circumstances information will be revealed to us by the appropriate authorities in relation to any suspicion of money laundering. We will need to gather a lot of information from you at the beginning of the Claim about you and your instructions. If this changes significantly during the Claim, they may raise suspicion of money laundering leading us to report your transaction to the authorities which will cause delay. Please supply (and keep us supplied) with information requested particularly about the source of any funds to be used in the Claim and let us know as soon as any circumstances change.

VAT Registered:

Osbourne Pinner is a VAT Registered. Please note our Firm’s VAT Registration Number is 374 890 161

Company Registration Number: 130 78996

Fixed Fees:

In some cases, the firm may be able to offer you a Fixed Fee. At the beginning of your retainer, we will confirm in writing the scope of the retainer and the work covered within your Fixed Fee.

If you instruct us to do additional work, or work which falls outside of your fixed fee, we will inform you whether we can offer you a separate Fixed Fee for this additional work or whether it will be chargeable at your solicitor’s hourly rate + VAT. We will, of course, discuss the options with you before commencing work.

In relation to Fixed Fee cases, it is the firm’s policy is to take full payment prior to commencing work. Upon payment, we will issue you a receipt of payment and a letter of engagement. It is important to note that fees are non-refundable once you have received the firm’s detailed engagement letter from us. Please also note that while we will deal with your application at the best of our level to make your position strong, we are unable to guarantee the success of an application as we are not the decision maker.

Please note that if your instructions are withdrawn at any stage for whatever reasons, if a fixed fee has been agreed, the full fees and any disbursements and expenses incurred will remain chargeable. For matters not subject to a fixed fee, the agreed hourly rates apply and you will remain liable for payment of all work and any disbursements and expenses incurred up to the date instructions were formally withdrawn.

You are primarily liable for your costs. If your costs are being paid by a third party, such as a friend or family member, you still remain primarily liable to the firm for those fees.

No Win No Fee or No Win Half Fee Refund (Company’s Sponsorship Licence):

In some cases, the firm may be able to offer you a no win no fee or no win half fee offer. It is important to note that the refund is applicable only if your application decision is unsuccessful due to an error on our part.

We take great pride in our team’s expertise and knowledge in this area, and we strive to provide accurate and up-to-date advice to all our clients. If, for some reason, your application is refused or rejected due to your own fault, such as not following our solicitor’s advice or not providing us or Home Office with requested information in a timely manner, then our firm cannot be held responsible for the outcome, and no refund will be offered in such a situation. During the process, if your circumstances change and you decide not to proceed with us or if you are unable to provide us with any information during the process, you will not be eligible for any refund. The firm will be pleased to keep your file active for a certain time period for you to arrange the missing information which can be discussed with your solicitor about the timeframe for keeping your file open (Maximum time for keeping a file open is 3-6 months).  This time period should give you ample time to arrange for the missing information.

However, if you are unable to provide us with the necessary information within this timeframe, we will not be able to offer you a refund. Additionally, after this limited time period, your contract with our company will be automatically terminated.

It is also important to mention that no refund will be offered if you have already been provided with our company’s client care letter and document checklist. This serves as a guide for our clients, and it is essential that all the information and documents requested are provided to us or to the home office in a timely and accurate manner. Failure to do so may result in delays or even refusal of your application and the firm would not be held responsible for the refusal in that situation. Therefore, it is crucial to carefully review and follow the instructions provided to you by our team.

HOME OFFICE COMPLIANCE VISIT/AUDIT: – It is also worth noting that our no win no fee or no win half fee refund policy does not apply if your business has been selected for a sponsor licence audit or compliance visit. This is because these processes are completely separate from the initial application and require additional work and resources from our team. In these cases, our charges will be advised separately by our team members, and the no win no fee policy will not be applicable.

Billing arrangements

We require our bills to be normally payable in full upon receipt within 14 days of the date of the invoice. We may charge interest on overdue bills at the County Court judgment debt rate (currently 8% per annum) until payment or at the rate under the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998 if not paid according to our agreed credit terms.

If any bills remain unpaid for 30 days, we may stop acting for you in your current matter and decline future instructions from you.  We may also require immediate payment for any outstanding work and withdraw instructions from anyone we may have instructed on your behalf. If a bill remains unpaid whilst we represent you in court or tribunal proceedings, we may remove ourselves from the record as acting for you and then you will be responsible for the future conduct of your own case.

Please note that we are unable to accept cash payments over £500. Unless we ask you to, please do not deposit cash directly with our bank as we are then required to undertake additional checks to verify the source and these checks will incur extra charges. If we require a payment on account to cover costs and disbursements, please note that in the normal course of events, cheques are cleared 6 working days after banking. Please be aware that we are unable to incur disbursements on your behalf until monies have cleared the banking system. Any delay on your part to ensure that we have access to cleared funds may delay the progress of your matter.

Identity and disclosure requirements

Solicitors are now required to comply with detailed anti-money laundering laws and face serious penalties if they fail to do so. This is because solicitors dealing with money and property on behalf of their clients can be used by criminals wanting to launder money Therefore, in most situations, we need to obtain satisfactory evidence of the identity of our clients and sometimes people related to them before we begin working for you. It is necessary for this firm to verify your identity and you may be required to attend our offices to produce for inspection your passport or driving license and a recent utility bill for it to be copied and kept on file. if you are unable to attend the office it may be acceptable for a copy of your passport or driving license to be taken by another solicitor or other suitable person, who has certified it as being a true copy of the original. We are entitled to refuse to act for you if you fail to supply appropriate proof of identity for yourself or for any principal you may represent.

The Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 imposes requirements on Solicitors to report to the National Organised Crime Agency any transaction which they believe involves financial wrong doing. By accepting these Terms and Conditions of Business you acknowledge that we, as your solicitors, are required to report any transaction which we believe may involve Money Laundering or dealing with the proceeds of Criminal conduct, which includes tax evasion and social security fraud. As a matter of policy, we will not accept money from or send money to third parties on your behalf.

We will not be liable for any loss, damage or delay arising out of the firm’s compliance with any statutory or regulatory requirement.

Working with other professionals

When we engage or recommend other professionals on your behalf (such as other lawyers, financial advisors, accountants, barristers, experts, etc.) whether in the UK or abroad, we do so based only on our experience of them and cannot be held responsible for any act or omission in the work they do for you, unless we agree otherwise in writing. If you ask us to introduce other professional consultants to you, any advice given by them will be their responsibility directly to you and not ours.

Maintaining Quality

We are committed to quality and as such, occasionally some of our files may be audited by external examiners to ensure we meet our quality requirements and standards we work to. As we are regulated our files may also be subject to inspection by our regulatory body and our financial auditors and accountants.  This will be subject to rules of strict confidentiality and privacy. Unless you tell us otherwise, we shall assume you have no objection. You may object at any time and refusing consent will not affect our work for you. We ask for this to be confirmed in writing.  We will not submit files for external audit where there is particularly sensitive material.

Termination

You may terminate your instructions to us in writing at any time but we will be entitled to keep all your papers and documents while there is money owing to us for our charges and expenses. If at any stage you do not wish us to continue doing work and/or incurring charges and expenses on your behalf, you must tell us this clearly in writing.

  • Osbourne Pinner will not tolerate any form of abuse or harassment towards their staff.

Applicable law and regulations

The engagement of this firm shall be governed by and interpreted in accordance with English law and both you and we submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the English courts to resolve any disputes. Osbourne Pinner is a Sole Proprietor law firm and is authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority and is subject to the SRA Code of Conduct which can be viewed in English at www.sra.org.uk/solicitors/handbook/code. The role of the SRA is to ensure that solicitors provide their clients with a good quality service.

Firm’s COLP & COFA Duties:

Osbourne Pinner’s Principal Solicitor is fully responsible for COLP and COFA duties. The roles of Principal Solicitor as a Firm’s Compliance Officers for Legal Practice (COLPs) and for Finance and Administration (COFAs) are an integral part of firm’s move to outcomes-focused regulation and aim that firms will take responsibility for managing risks to their delivery of legal services. The COLP and COFA should be champions of risk management and compliance within a firm, and will have responsibility for the firm’s systems and controls. Firm’s Principal Solicitor Kanchan Gooransingh is responsible for ensuring processes are in place to enable the firm, its managers and employees and anyone who has any interest in the firm to comply with Handbook requirements on them.

Data Protection

We use the information you provide primarily for the provision of legal services to you and for related purposes including:

Updating and enhancing client records Analysis to help us manage our Practice

Statutory returns Legal and regulatory Compliance.

Our use of that information is subject to your instructions, the Data Protection Act 1987 and our duty of confidentiality. Please note that our work for you may require us to give information to third parties such as expert witnesses and other professional advisers. You have a right of access under data protection legislation to the personal data that we hold about you.

We may from time to time send you information that we think might be of interest to you. If you do not wish to receive that information, please notify our office in writing.

As a controller of personal data, we are under an obligation to comply with data protection law set out in the Data Protection Act 1998 and any other regulations made under that Act. By giving us your personal information, you consent to us processing and storing your information so that we may provide you with legal services and generally administer and take care of our relationship with you. We may disclose your information to our third-party service providers or agents for these purposes.

In addition, we may contact you from time to time to let you know about our services which may include sending you newsletters and news on training events or changes in the law which may affect you. Please remember that you can elect not to receive such marketing material at any time by writing to our Marketing Manager or to the lawyer responsible for your work.

We can send you our full data protection policy on request.

We will use the personal information you provide to us including any sensitive personal information for the purposes of providing legal advice to you and for acting on your behalf, for administration and marketing purposes. If you provide us with the information you agree that we may contact you by post, telephone, facsimile and/or email.

We may keep your information for a reasonable period to contact you about our services in the future. If you do not want us to do this you can opt out at any time by letting us know in writing.

By retaining us to act you agree that if required we may from time to time provide your data to a third party for the purpose of tracing your whereabouts to recover and/or return any fees due. This may include searching on credit reference databases.

Client Consent

Data Protection Act 1998

In order to help you, we need to store information about you. We must get consent from you for this. All your information will be treated confidentially. We may need to speak to other people in order to help you and for that we need to ask for your consent. I give my consent to Osbourne Pinner recording personal information on myself and to correspond on my behalf with any relevant third party. I confirm that I have:

  • been given contact details of your Data Protection Manager
  • Read a copy of the Privacy Policy
  • I understand my rights under data protection policy
  • I consent to my data being used ONLY for the following purposes.
  • To progress my legal matter
  • since without my agreement you cannot act for me
  • To keep my file during your data retention period on the understanding that it is confidentially destroyed afterwards
  • To keep my name and address details for the purposes set out in the Privacy Policy
  • If applicable: I give my consent to Osbourne Pinner process the sensitive
  • data you will need from me to deal with my legal matter (knowing this might
  • include personal details about me like

        ➢    racial or ethnic origin,

        ➢    political opinions,

        ➢    religious or philosophical beliefs,

        ➢    or trade union membership, genetic data,

        ➢    biometric data

        ➢    data concerning health or data concerning a natural person’s sex

        ➢    life or sexual orientation.

Stopping my consent:

I understand that I can cancel this consent at any time by signing and returning the Stopping my Consent Form supplied to me or by contacting the Data Protection Manager. I am aware that I will be asked to provide ID if I want to withdraw my Consent so that you can be sure that request is valid. If I stop my consent, I accept this will not invalidate the data processing you have done up to that point. If I stop my consent you will not be able to progress any of the remaining legal work set out above.

OUR COMMITMENT TO YOUR PRIVACY

Your trust is important to us so we want you to know we’ve updated our Privacy Notice to explain how we collect, store and handle your personal data.

Why we collect your data

We want to give you the best possible experience with Osbourne Pinner. For example, the data we hold about you helps us personalise our recommendations for legal services.

How we collect your data

We do this in a number of ways, including where you share information with us. Such as when you give your instructions to us. We treat it with the utmost care and take appropriate steps to protect it.

When we’ll share your data

We’ll only share your data with third parties to help us provide a better service for you. For example, giving your information to Barristers, Tribunals, Courts, Country Experts, and other legal organisation.

Know your rights

You have many rights regarding your personal data. These include seeing what data we hold and updating your information.

There’s nothing you need to do right now, but if you’d like to find out more, do take a

look at our Privacy Notice or visit our website at any time. Also please see attached our

Terms & Conditions.

Time Scales

An estimate of the timescale will be confirmed in writing where possible. It will depend on the nature of each case whether an accurate timescale can be given. Legal work is often complex, contentious and uncertain, or progress is depending upon the actions of others. This may mean that estimates can only be given on a step-by-step basis and may need to be reviewed as progress is made.

Undertakings

If we are required to give an undertaking on your behalf, we will not give such undertaking without your prior approval, unless it is part of usual business.  If we are required to undertake to make a payment on your behalf, we will normally require that the relevant amount, or a reasonable estimate of that sum is paid to us before we give the undertaking, as that undertaking cannot be withdrawn.

Professional Indemnity Insurance

In accordance with the Solicitors Regulation Authority rules, we hold a professional indemnity insurance policy subject to the limit of GBP £2,000,000 each and every claim plus defence cost.  We have arranged our insurance cover with Zurich Insurance. Our Policy Number is 8011851. This insurance complies with the Solicitors’ Indemnity Insurance Rules.

General Data Protection Regulations

All personal data will be held safely and securely in accordance with the provisions of GDPR.  We use the information you provide primarily for the provision al legal services to you and for related purposes including: –

  • Updating and enhancing client records;
  • Analysis to help us to manage our practice;
  • Statutory returns; and
  • Legal and regulatory compliance.

Our use of that information is subject to your instructions, the GDPR and our duty of confidentiality. Please note that our work for you may require us to give information to third parties such as expert witnesses and other processional advisers.  You have the right of access under GDPR legislation to the personal data we hold for you. The Data Protection Manager is Ms. Kanchan Gooransing who can be contacted on [email protected]

Equality and Diversity

We are committed to ensuring equality of opportunity and fairness in all areas of employment and to valuing the diversity of our colleagues, clients and people living within our local communities. Our commitment lies at the heart of our promise to provide outstanding client service by maintaining the highest standards of professional excellence. We are committed to recruiting, training and promoting the best person for

the job and encouraging all our colleagues to reach their full potential, regardless of age, gender, marital status, race or ethnicity, nationality, disability, religion or religious or

other beliefs, sexual orientation, social or educational background or family or care responsibilities.

We are also determined to create a working environment which supports our vision and Values and which is free from any form of discrimination, harassment or bullying and within which all individuals are treated with respect, fairness and courtesy.

We do not accept cash deposits greater than £500.

The law requires solicitors to get satisfactory evidence of the identity of their clients and sometimes people related to them. This is because solicitors who deal with money and property on behalf of their client can be used by criminals wanting to launder money. To comply with the law, we need to get evidence of your identity as soon as

possible. We would be grateful if you would please supply ORIGINAL evidence of

identity and address by forwarding ONE of the documents from list A or TWO from list B, we will photocopy these for you and return them soon after. If you cannot provide us

with the specific identification requested, please contact us as soon as possible to discuss other ways to verify your identity.

List A

A valid full passport. A valid H M Forces identity card with the signatory’s photograph. A

valid UK photo card driving license.

List B

Receipted utility bill less than 6 months old. Council Tax bill less than 6 months old. Mortgage statement for the last year. Cheque guarantee card, credit card.

Council rent book showing rent paid for the last 6 months.

Termination:

If we decide to stop acting for you, for example because you do not pay an interim bill or comply with a request for a payment on account, we will tell you the reason and give you notice in writing. The firm has right to withdraw their representation if any circumstances which the firm feels below:

The threat or risk of violence, injury or other danger.  The discovery or creation of a conflict of interest.  You are requesting us to break the law or any professional negligence. In relationship to the trust and confidence between solicitor and client. Failure to pay to us any amount due.  You are failure to give us adequate instructions. Our reasonable belief that continuing to represent you may cause damage to the professional or personal reputations of our firm. Any other breach by you.  

If you have not provided us with face-to-face instruction, under the Consumer protection (Distance Selling) Regulations 2000, for some non-business instructions, you may have the right to withdraw, without charge, within 7 working days of the date on which you asked us to act for you. However, if we start work with your consent within that period, you lose that right to withdraw. Your acceptance of these terms and conditions of business will amount to such a consent. If you seek to withdraw instructions, you should give notice by telephone, email or letter to the person named as being responsible for your work. The Regulations require us to inform you that the work involved is likely to take more than 30 days. Please also note that by signing the letter you also agree to the time for the firm to complete your work being extended beyond the 30 days envisaged by the above Regulations. The firm also keep a right to terminate their services if any of the below arise:

  • the threat or risk of violence, injury or other danger to their firm or their team member
  • your failure to give us adequate instructions;
  • creation of a Conflict of Interest
  • your requesting us to break the law or any professional requirement; or
  • the relationship of trust and confidence necessary between solicitor and client
  • ceasing to exist between us; or your failure to pay to us any amount due, or money on account requested;
  • our reasonable belief that our continuing to represent you may cause damage to the professional or personal reputation of our firm or any of its personnel; or
  • any other breach by you of these terms.

Complaints

We aim to meet the expectations of our clients, however, if we fall short, we will work together with our clients to resolve any concerns clients may have.  They can immediately raise their concerns with the person who is currently allocated with their matter.  If this fails to resolve your concerns to your satisfactory then please contact the firm’s Complaints Officer.  

Under the Solicitor Regulation Authority Rules, we are committed to providing high quality legal advice and client care. If you are unhappy with any aspect of the service you have received or about your bill, we would ask you to initially discuss this with the fee earner with conduct of your matter.

You will be provided with a copy of our complaints policy with our company’s Terms and Conditions once you have officially decided to instruct us.

We take all complaints very seriously and strive to resolve them as quickly and efficiently as possible. Our goal is to provide our clients with the best possible service and we are committed to addressing any issues that may arise. We hope that our 3 stage complaint process will provide you with a fair and satisfactory resolution to any concerns you may have.

 

 We understand that sometimes, despite our best efforts, our clients may not be completely satisfied with our services. In such cases, we have a 3 stage process in place to address any complaints that may arise.

Stage 1

 

The first stage of our complaint process is to send a formal complaint to [email protected]. This email will be received by our team and forwarded to the senior solicitor or fee earner who is currently handling your case. They will carefully review your complaint and provide a detailed response within 14 days.

Stage 2:

 

If, at this stage, you are still not satisfied with the response from your solicitor, you may escalate your complaint to our senior office manager, Mr. Ravin Singh, by sending an email to [email protected]. Along with your complaint, please include the response you received from your solicitor. Mr. Singh will review your complaint and the solicitor’s response, and provide a response within 14 days.

Stage 3:

In the rare case that you are still not satisfied with the response from your solicitor and the senior office manager, you have the right to raise your complaint to our company’s founder and principal solicitor, Ms. Kanchan. You can send your complaint to [email protected]. Ms. Kanchan will conduct a full investigation into your matter and provide a detailed response within 8 weeks.
 

Should you remain dissatisfied with our handling of the complaint, or about the firm’s bill, you can ask the Legal Ombudsman to consider it further. Before you make a complaint to the Legal Ombudsman, it is a requirement that you have raised your complaint with us first and we have 8 weeks to deal with your complaint. If you are not satisfied with our handling of your complaint after the 8 weeks has expired you can ask the Legal Ombudsman to consider the complaint. The time limit to bring a complaint to the Legal Ombudsman is 6 months of receiving a final written response from us about your complaint or within six years of the act or omission about which you are complaining occurring (or if outside of this period, within three years of when you should reasonably have been aware of it).

Please note that from 1 April 2023 these time limits are changing.

Please be aware that any complaint to the Legal Ombudsman must usually be made with six months of you having received a final written response from us about your complaint. Complaints to the Legal Ombudsman must usually be made within one year of the act or omission about which you are complaining occuring; or within one year from when you should have know about or become aware that there were grounds for complaint.

Their contact details are: Legal Ombudsman

Address: Legal Ombudsman, PO Box 6167, Slough, SL1 0EH

Telephone: 0300 555 0333

Website: www.legalombudsman.org.uk

Email: [email protected]

Refund Policy

As per the firms Refund Policy Osbourne Pinner Solicitors do not issue refunds once engagement letter has been sent and or disbursements have been paid or a liability for disbursements has been incurred.  

If you request a refund of some or all of that money,  after deducting any direct costs to us and work carried out by us associated with the processing of your matter and the processing of any refund and also any costs (including VAT and disbursements) which we have incurred in accordance with your instructions up to the date of your request for a refund.

If you would like to request a refund you should raise the matter with your solicitor in the first instance, by writing to our Client Care Director, 48 Warwick Street, London W1B 5NL  Once we have received your refund request, your matter/work carried out will be assessed by the accounts team. The assessment by the accounts team will take in 30 working days and once the assessment is done and a response with the agreed refund is sent to you, our accounts team will refund any money due to you will be made to you via bank transfer within 28 working days of that agreement.

Please, contact our Client Care Director by post for any refund request at the below addresses.

CITY OFFICE LOCATION
48 Warwick Street, Piccadilly Circus
London, W1B 5NL
Fax: 020 7183 2462
E-Mail: [email protected]