If you have a complaint please write to us with full details of your concerns. Our client care partner Mr P J Smith has responsibility for dealing with complaints. You can contact him at Towneley House, Kingsway, Burnley, BB11 1BJ. Alternatively you can contact him at clientcare@sjlaw.co.uk.

It is your right to know what data we hold on you. If you would like to know what data we hold on you, email us at clientcare@sjlaw.co.uk or phone your case handler to ask for a Subject Access Request form. While it isn’t necessary for you to use that form it will speed up your request as it will make sure that we have all of the information that we need.

Our storage servers are based in the UK and owned by us. We have back-up systems and these are managed and supported by our IT support partner, Seriun Ltd. Where we maintain paper copies they are held in our offices, or at storage facilities that we are confident have sufficient security measures.

We work with external agencies who confirm that we are doing all of the things that we should be doing. This means that from time to time, they come in to check our files. There is a possibility that yours may be one of the files that they look at. Any external agency who comes in to look at our files has signed an agreement with us to maintain confidentiality. We regularly train all of our staff in Data Protection and Information Security so they are all aware of how important your data is.

We do use email and electronic systems and some of these are held outside of the EEA. We take great care in how we choose companies to work with and make sure that they respect your data as much as we do. In order to be able to conduct your case, we do need your permission to be able to transfer and hold your data outside of the EEA and you give us this when you sign our retainer documentation.

Access to our systems is highly restricted and the firms who have access to our systems in order to provide us with support have all signed confidentiality agreements with us to protect your data.

So that we would be able to answer questions should you return to us after your case is finished, we will hold your full file in electronic format for the minimum length of time required. For example, if you are contacting us about a litigation claim, we will hold your file until 6 years after the closure of your case except if the matter involves a child or a person designated by the Courts as a protected party. These matters are subject to longer retention periods. The same time limits apply for enquiries to us. Further information of exactly which time limits apply to your case is included in the Client Information booklet.

Unless you specifically request otherwise, we will maintain your “client” file. This  holds your basic contact information and is used as a file that we can associate different cases with you. If you would rather us delete this information at the same time as we securely dispose of your matter file, please let us know at clientcare@sjlaw.co.uk.

We do not routinely delete our emails. If you would like us to search for and delete any emails relating to your file, please let us know and we will endeavour to locate and delete all of these when we delete your file.

The UK GDPR provides eight rights for individuals regarding their data: –

1. The right to be informed;

2. The right of access;

3. The right to rectification;

4. The right to erase;

5. The right to restrict processing;

6. The right to data portability;

7. The right to object;

8. Rights in relation to automated decision making and profiling.

Please note that with effect from 1st April 2023 the time limits are changing. After that date you will normally need to bring a complaint to the Legal Ombudsman not later than:

• One year from the date of the act or omission being complained about; or

• One year from the date when you should reasonably have known there was cause for complaint.

If you would like more information about the Legal Ombudsman, the contact details are:

The Legal Ombudsman, PO Box 6806 Wolverhampton WV1 9WJ;www.legalombudsman.org.uk

Helpline number 0300 555 0333 (calls are charged at local rate and will be recorded).

If you are calling from overseas, please call +44 121 245 3050; For the minicom call 0300 555 1777; email enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk.

Please note the Legal Ombudsman may not deal with a complaint about a bill if you have applied to the court for assessment of that bill.

If we still cannot settle the matter, we will provide the name and web address of an ADR approved body, which would be competent to deal with the complaint, should both parties wish to use the scheme.

If our contract with you was made online, then you also have the right to submit your complaint via an online form which can be found at http://ec.europa.eu/odr for this purpose, our email address is clientcare@sjlaw.co.uk

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Our storage servers are based in the UK and owned by us. We have back-up systems and these are managed and supported by our IT support partner, Seriun Ltd. Where we maintain paper copies they are held in our offices, or at storage facilities that we are confident have sufficient security measures.

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