Complaints policy and procedure
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, so that we can put it right and improve our standards. This page sets out how to complain, what we will do, and what to do if you are not satisfied with our response.
How to make a complaint
If you have a complaint, please contact Joanne Dewhurst, our Compliance Officer for Legal Practice.
Joanne Dewhurst
Compliance Officer for Legal Practice (COLP)
- Post
- Antony Hodari Solicitors, 83 Fountain Street, Manchester M2 2EE
- Telephone
- 0161 838 7146
- complaints@antonyhodari.co.uk
Joanne will pass your complaint to the manager in charge of the department involved. If any of the timescales set out below have to change, she will tell you and explain why.
If your complaint relates to costs or to a Costs Lawyer, please also read the section on complaints involving costs issues further down this page, as the route differs.
What happens next
We will write to acknowledge your complaint and ask you to confirm or explain any details. Where it seems appropriate we will suggest a meeting at this stage. We will also tell you the name of the person who will be dealing with your complaint.
We will then open a file for your complaint and begin our investigation. That may involve one or more of the following steps:
- Asking the person who acted for you to comment on your complaint. We will examine their reply alongside the information in your file, and we may also speak to them directly.
- Writing to you to discuss the complaint and, we hope, resolve it.
- Offering an apology, a reduction in a bill, or a repayment of a sum we have received, where that is appropriate.
- Where the matter cannot be resolved quickly, liaising with the person handling your file so that the problem is put right to your satisfaction before the work continues.
We aim to resolve any complaint within 21 days of receiving it.
If you are still not satisfied
Complaints about our service
If you remain unsatisfied and your complaint relates to a service issue, such as the work done or how we communicated with you, you can contact the Legal Ombudsman. We very much hope this will not be necessary.
Legal Ombudsman
- Post
- PO Box 6167, Slough SL1 0EH
- Telephone
- 0300 555 0333
- Minicom
- 0300 555 1777
- enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk
- Website
- www.legalombudsman.org.uk
Time limits
The Legal Ombudsman expects a complaint to be made to them within one year of the act or omission you are complaining about.
You must also refer your complaint to them within six months of our final response to you.
The Legal Ombudsman will not consider a complaint until we have had the opportunity to resolve it through our own procedure first.
Mediation
You may also wish to consider mediation to resolve an unsettled complaint. A number of providers offer an online video mediation service, which we consider the most proportionate method. Pro Mediate provide a complaints resolution service.
While we would consider a request for mediation, we consider the service offered by the Legal Ombudsman to be the most appropriate way of resolving complaints. We would not consider mediation where the matter has already been dealt with by the Legal Ombudsman.
Complaints about conduct or behaviour
If your complaint relates to poor conduct or behaviour on the part of a solicitor or a firm, and you remain unsatisfied, you can report the issue to the Solicitors Regulation Authority using their online reporting form. There is no time limit for reporting a complaint of this nature.
Complaints involving costs issues
If your complaint relates to the quality of service provided by a Costs Lawyer, it will be dealt with under our internal complaints procedure as set out above. If it is not dealt with, or you are not satisfied with our response, you can refer it to the Legal Ombudsman.
If your complaint relates to the professional conduct of a Costs Lawyer, it will also be dealt with under our internal procedure first. If it is not dealt with, or you are not satisfied with our response, within an eight week period, you can refer it to the Costs Lawyer Standards Board.
Costs Lawyer Standards Board
- Post
- PO Box 4336, Manchester M61 0BW
- Telephone
- 0161 956 8969
- enquiries@clsb.info
- Website
- clsb.info
Time limit
The Costs Lawyer Standards Board ordinarily expects a complaint within 12 months of the date the matters giving rise to it occurred, or of when you realised you had cause for complaint.
Where a complaint concerns both service and conduct issues relating to a Costs Lawyer, it will usually be considered by the Legal Ombudsman in the first instance.
Data protection complaints
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, so that we can improve our standards. A separate procedure applies to complaints about how we have handled your personal data.
How to make a data protection complaint
If you have a complaint relating to data protection, please contact Joanne Dewhurst, our Compliance Officer for Legal Practice.
Joanne Dewhurst
Compliance Officer for Legal Practice (COLP)
- Post
- Antony Hodari Solicitors, 83 Fountain Street, Manchester M2 2EE
- Telephone
- 0161 838 7146
- compliance@antonyhodari.co.uk
What happens next
The law requires us to acknowledge receipt of your complaint within 30 days beginning when the complaint is received. We will write to acknowledge your complaint and ask you to confirm or explain any further details, and we aim to do this within 24 hours of receiving it.
We will then open a file and begin our investigation. That may involve one or more of the following steps:
- Asking the person who acted for you, or who handled the data, to comment on your complaint. We will examine their reply alongside the information in your file, and we may also speak to them directly.
- Carrying out any further relevant investigations.
- Writing to you to resolve your complaint.
We aim to resolve any data protection complaint within 21 days of our acknowledgement.
If further time is required, for example where the complaint is complex or involves a large volume of documentation, we will tell you the longer timeframe and keep you updated on the progress of the investigation.
If you are still not satisfied
If you remain unsatisfied you can contact the Information Commissioner’s Office about your data protection complaint. We very much hope this will not be necessary.
Information Commissioner’s Office
- Post
- Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF
- Website
- ico.org.uk
There is no time limit for reporting a data protection complaint to the Information Commissioner’s Office, but they generally expect complaints to be made within three months of your last contact with us. Their ability to investigate may be hindered if you leave it longer.
Complaints policy and procedure · Version 11 · Created 25 June 2014 · Last reviewed 25 June 2026
Data protection complaints policy and procedure · Version 3 · Created 13 May 2026 · Last reviewed 25 June 2026