Complaints procedure

1. Our approach

If you are unhappy with any part of our service, including our fees, we want to hear about it. Raising a concern will not affect how we treat you or your case. You do not need to wait until the matter ends.

2. Who regulates us, and who does not

Eloquia is not a law firm, and the Solicitors Regulation Authority does not regulate it. The Legal Ombudsman considers complaints about lawyers who hold authorisation under the Legal Services Act 2007. Eloquia holds no such authorisation at present. As matters stand, the Legal Ombudsman's scheme therefore does not apply to a complaint about our work. We say so at the start so that you know the route that applies. If that position changes, we will update this page.

Part of your matter may have been the work of the regulated law firm or the criminal defence partner firm we work with. If so, a complaint about that part goes through that firm's own complaints procedure. That firm is regulated. Once its procedure is complete, you can take a complaint about its work to the Legal Ombudsman. Tell us which part of the work concerns you and we will point you to the right procedure.

3. Stage one: tell us

Write to Saqib Khan, director, at hello@eloquia.co.uk or telephone 07356 071 193. By post, write to Eloquia Ltd, Arden Hall, Brooklands Road, Sale M33 3SJ. You can also raise a complaint by telephone. We will then put what you tell us in writing and send it to you to check. Say what went wrong, what you would like us to do about it and, if you can, the dates involved.

We acknowledge your complaint within five working days. We then review the file and speak to you if that would help. Within 28 days of receiving the complaint, we send you a full written response. If we need longer, we tell you why and give you a date.

4. Stage two: a fresh review

If our response does not satisfy you, ask for a review within 28 days of receiving it. One person leads Eloquia, so there is no more senior person inside the company to hear an appeal. Instead, the review is a fresh look at the whole complaint and the file. We send a further written response within 28 days of your request.

5. Stage three: independent mediation

If the review does not resolve your complaint, we will offer to refer it to an independent mediator. We agree the mediator between us, and it will be someone who has had no involvement in your matter. Eloquia meets the mediator's fee. Mediation is voluntary and confidential, and no one can use anything said in it against you later.

Taking part in our procedure or in mediation does not affect your right to bring a claim in the courts. Your complaint may concern how we have handled personal information. In that case you can also complain to the Information Commissioner's Office, as our privacy notice explains.

6. Complaints about investigations and mediations we conduct

When we act as an independent investigator, chair or mediator, the process belongs to the organisation that appointed us. A challenge to an outcome goes through that organisation's own appeal procedure. You can still complain to us under this procedure about our conduct of the process, for example about delay or courtesy.

7. Records and learning

We keep a record of every complaint, the response and the outcome, separately from the matter file. We review the record each year to find patterns and change how we work where a complaint shows we should.

8. Approval and version history

ELQ-CMP-001 · Version 1.0 · Owner: Saqib Khan, director · Next review: October 2027