Complaints Policy

We are committed to providing a high-quality legal service to all our clients. When something goes wrong, we need you to tell us about it, and if we agree we will put it right. We do not charge you for investigating complaints and raising a complaint should not usually delay your case. We will tell you if it will.

Complaints must be made by a client and should be addressed to The Complaints Manager, Winn Solicitors Limited, Brinkburn Street, Byker, Newcastle upon Tyne NE6 1PL, or please email: complaints@winnsolicitors.com

We recognise that some clients may use artificial intelligence (AI) tools to assist with drafting a complaint. While this is entirely acceptable, complaints must contain sufficient factual detail for us to understand and investigate the concerns being raised.

If a complaint is submitted in a generic, vague, or AI-generated format that does not clearly identify the specific issues, events, actions, or outcomes being complained about, we may be unable to investigate or respond meaningfully. In such circumstances, we will ask you to provide further information and specific details before progressing the complaint.

Where sufficient information is not provided after a request for clarification, we reserve the right to place the complaint on hold or close our investigation until the necessary details are received.

This requirement is not intended to prevent complaints from being made, but to ensure that we fully understand your concerns and can provide a fair and accurate response.

If you choose to use artificial intelligence to assist with your response, please note that AI-generated content may not be correct or reliable. You may also risk disclosing personal information to that technology or breaching legal privilege.

What will happen next?

• We will send you a letter acknowledging your complaint within seven working days of receipt.
• We will investigate your complaint by reviewing your file and speaking to relevant staff.
• If we uphold your complaint we will apologise and tell you how we propose to resolve it.
• If we have caused any loss we will compensate you.
• If we do not uphold your complaint we will explain why.
• We aim to answer your complaint as soon as possible after sending you the acknowledgement letter. All complaints should be answered within eight weeks, in line with the Legal Ombudsman’s Scheme Rules.

What to do if you are unhappy with our final decision

• If we are unable to resolve your complaint, then you can have the complaint independently looked at by the Legal Ombudsman. The Legal Ombudsman investigates complaints about service issues with lawyers.
• 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 of you realising there was a concern. You must also refer your concerns to the Legal Ombudsman within six months of our final response to you.
• You can contact the Legal Ombudsman by:
• Telephone: 0300 555 0333
• Email: enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk
• Post: Legal Ombudsman, PO Box 6167, Slough SL1 0EH.
• Complaints to the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA). They can help you if you are concerned about our behaviour, such as dishonesty, taking or losing your money, or treating you unfairly because of a protected characteristic.
• They can be contacted at https://www.sra.org.uk/consumers/problems/report-solicitor