Complaints Policy - Review A Solicitor

Last reviewed: 27 July 2026

1. About This Policy

Review A Solicitor is an independent online directory that helps members of the public find, research and compare solicitors, law firms and other legal service providers.

Our directory contains professional, regulatory and business information obtained from sources that may include the Solicitors Regulation Authority, public business information and details supplied directly by law firms or their authorised representatives.

We are committed to operating a fair, accurate and transparent directory. This Complaints Policy explains:

Who can make a complaint
What can be complained about
How to submit a complaint
How we investigate complaints
When you can expect a response
What to do if you are dissatisfied with our decision

This policy applies to complaints about Review A Solicitor, our Website, our services, our directory information or the conduct of our team. It does not replace the complaints procedure of any solicitor or law firm listed in our directory.

2. Who This Policy Applies To

This policy applies to:

Members of the public who use Review A Solicitor to find, research or compare legal service providers
Solicitors and other legal professionals whose professional information appears on the Website
Law firms and legal service providers listed in the directory
Authorised representatives who have claimed or attempted to claim a firm profile
Account holders and businesses using free, paid or enhanced profile services
Other people directly affected by the operation of the Website

A complaint is an expression of dissatisfaction about our service, conduct, decision or handling of a matter where the person making the complaint is seeking a response or resolution.

General comments, suggestions and requests for information may be treated as feedback or enquiries rather than formal complaints. We will tell you if we believe another process is more appropriate.

3. What You Can Complain About

You may make a complaint about matters including:

Information displayed on a solicitor or law firm profile
Our handling of a request to correct inaccurate directory information
Our handling of a profile claim or ownership verification process
A delay in updating information supplied by a firm
Information that you believe is unfair, misleading, outdated or presented without sufficient context
The labelling or presentation of sponsored, featured or commercially enhanced profiles
Problems with an account, subscription or paid profile service
The operation of our directory search, comparison or filtering tools
Accessibility problems or difficulty using our service
How a member of our team communicated with or treated you
Our handling of your personal information
Our failure to follow a published policy or process
Another aspect of Review A Solicitor’s service or Website

4. Matters Covered by Other Processes

Some issues are dealt with more effectively through another process. Using the correct process may help resolve the matter more quickly.

4.1 Correcting directory information

If you believe information on a solicitor or law firm profile is inaccurate, incomplete or out of date, you should first send a correction request to info@reviewasolicitor.co.uk.

Please include:

The URL of the affected profile
The information you believe is incorrect
The correct information
The source or evidence supporting the correction
Your connection to the solicitor or firm, where relevant

Some profile information is obtained from the Solicitors Regulation Authority or another official register. Where the original source record is incorrect, we may ask you to arrange for the source record to be corrected before our directory can be permanently updated.

If you have already used the correction process and are dissatisfied with how we handled the matter, you may then make a formal complaint under this policy.

4.2 Claiming or managing a law firm profile

Requests to claim, verify or update a law firm profile should initially be made through the profile-claim process available on the Website or by contacting info@reviewasolicitor.co.uk.

We may require evidence that the person making the request is authorised to act for the firm. This may include contacting the firm through independently verified contact details.

A refusal to approve a claim, a dispute between representatives or dissatisfaction with how a claim was handled may be raised as a formal complaint.

4.3 Data protection rights requests

Requests to access, correct, erase or restrict the use of personal information should be made under the process described in our Privacy Policy.

If you believe we have infringed data protection law or have handled your personal information improperly, you may make a data protection complaint under this policy.

4.4 Copyright and intellectual property concerns

If you believe content on the Website infringes copyright, a trade mark or another intellectual property right, please contact us with:

Your name and contact details
Identification of the protected work or right
The URL of the allegedly infringing material
An explanation of why you believe the use is unauthorised
Evidence that you own the right or are authorised to act for its owner

We may deal with the matter through a dedicated intellectual property or content-removal process rather than the general complaints procedure.

4.5 Urgent impersonation, fraud or security concerns

If you believe a profile has been fraudulently claimed, an account has been compromised or someone is impersonating a solicitor or law firm, please clearly mark your email as Urgent: Security or Impersonation Concern.

We may temporarily restrict an account or profile while the concern is investigated.

5. Complaints About a Solicitor or Law Firm

Review A Solicitor does not provide legal services and does not investigate or determine complaints about legal advice, legal fees, professional negligence or the handling of a client’s legal matter.

If you are dissatisfied with legal services provided by a solicitor or law firm, you should first complain directly to that provider using its own complaints procedure.

The legal service provider should be given an opportunity to investigate and respond. If the complaint has not been resolved after eight weeks, or you receive a final response with which you remain dissatisfied, you may be eligible to complain to the Legal Ombudsman.

The Legal Ombudsman deals with complaints about the service provided by regulated legal professionals. It does not act as an appeal body for complaints about Review A Solicitor’s directory service.

Concerns about a solicitor’s honesty, conduct, professional obligations or regulatory compliance may need to be reported to the relevant regulator, such as the Solicitors Regulation Authority.

We cannot provide advice about whether a complaint should be made to a law firm, the Legal Ombudsman, the SRA or another organisation.

6. How to Make a Complaint

Please send complaints by email to:

info@reviewasolicitor.co.uk

Please use the subject line Formal Complaint so that we can identify and record your complaint promptly.

Alternatively, you may write to:

Complaints Team
Review A Solicitor
Exchange Court
Liverpool
L2 2PP
United Kingdom

To help us investigate efficiently, please provide:

Your full name
Your preferred contact details
The name of your firm and your role, where you are complaining on behalf of a legal service provider
A clear description of what happened
Relevant dates, profile URLs, account details or reference numbers
Copies of relevant correspondence or supporting evidence
Details of any previous attempt to resolve the matter
The outcome you would like us to consider

You do not need to use legal terminology or quote legislation when making a complaint.

Please do not send original documents. We cannot guarantee that physical documents will be returned.

7. Help and Reasonable Adjustments

We want our complaints process to be accessible.

If you are unable to submit a complaint in writing, need information in another format or require a reasonable adjustment, please contact us through our Contact Us page or email info@reviewasolicitor.co.uk.

We will make reasonable efforts to help you use the complaints process. This may include accepting information in another format, using a representative or adjusting how we communicate with you.

Where someone complains on behalf of another person, we may ask for evidence that they have authority to do so.

8. Our Complaints Process and Timescales

Stage 1: Acknowledgement

We aim to acknowledge a complaint within five working days of receiving it.

Our acknowledgement will normally:

Confirm that the complaint has been received
Provide a complaint reference where appropriate
Identify the person or team handling the complaint
Request any information needed to investigate
Give an indication of when a substantive response is expected

Stage 2: Initial assessment

We will assess the complaint to determine:

What issues need to be investigated
Whether the complaint falls within this policy
Whether another process is more appropriate
Whether any urgent protective action is required
Whether information is needed from another person or organisation

If the matter is outside our remit, we will explain this and, where reasonably possible, identify a more appropriate organisation or process.

Stage 3: Investigation

The investigation may include:

Reviewing directory records and source information
Checking account and profile activity
Reviewing correspondence and internal records
Speaking to relevant team members
Requesting evidence from the complainant
Contacting a law firm or other third party where necessary
Checking information against the relevant regulatory or public source
Considering the applicable policies, terms and legal obligations

We will approach the complaint fairly and will consider both information that supports the complaint and information that does not.

Stage 4: Substantive response

We aim to provide a substantive written response within 20 working days of acknowledging the complaint.

Our response will normally explain:

The issues we investigated
The information we considered
Our findings
Whether the complaint is upheld, partially upheld or not upheld
The reasons for our decision
Any corrective action we have taken or intend to take
How to request an internal review

Complex complaints

Some complaints may require additional time, particularly where they:

Raise several separate issues
Concern historic records
Require information from a regulator or third party
Involve disputed profile ownership
Include extensive evidence
Raise legal, technical or data protection questions

In a complex case, we may extend the response period by up to a further 20 working days. If an extension is needed, we will explain why and provide a revised target date.

These timescales are targets rather than guarantees. If exceptional circumstances prevent us from meeting them, we will keep you informed.

“Working days” means Monday to Friday, excluding bank holidays in England and Wales.

9. Data Protection Complaints

A data protection complaint is a complaint that we may have infringed data protection law through the way we collected, used, disclosed, retained, secured or otherwise handled personal information.

Data protection complaints may include concerns about:

Inaccurate personal information
Failure to respond properly to a data rights request
Unwanted direct marketing
Use of personal information without an appropriate lawful basis
Disclosure of personal information to another party
Failure to keep personal information secure
Retention of information for longer than necessary
Failure to provide appropriate privacy information

We will acknowledge data protection complaints within the period required by law and, without undue delay, take appropriate steps to investigate, keep the complainant informed and communicate the outcome.

Our target acknowledgement period of five working days is intended to provide a quicker response than the statutory maximum.

A data protection complaint may also constitute a request to exercise a legal right. Where this applies, we may handle the complaint and the rights request together while applying the relevant statutory time limits to each.

10. Possible Outcomes

Depending on the complaint and our findings, we may:

Correct inaccurate directory information
Add clarification or further context to a profile
Temporarily mark information as disputed
Remove information where there is a lawful and appropriate reason to do so
Restore information that was incorrectly removed
Approve, reject, suspend or revoke a profile claim
Restrict or secure an account
Refund or adjust a payment where appropriate
Apologise for an error or poor service
Explain why no change will be made
Improve a policy, process or technical feature
Provide additional training to a member of our team
Refer a security, fraud or regulatory concern to an appropriate organisation
Take no further action where the complaint is unsupported or outside our remit

The outcome requested by the complainant will be considered, but we cannot guarantee that a particular remedy will be provided.

11. Requesting an Internal Review

If you are dissatisfied with our substantive response, you may request an internal review.

The request should:

Be submitted within 28 days of the date of our substantive response
Clearly state that an internal review is requested
Explain why you believe the decision was incorrect or incomplete
Identify any relevant evidence that was overlooked
Include any important new information

An internal review is not normally a complete reinvestigation. Its purpose is to consider whether:

The complaint was investigated fairly
Relevant information was considered
The decision was reasonable and properly explained
Our policies and processes were followed
The proposed outcome was appropriate

Where reasonably practicable, the review will be conducted by a senior person who was not responsible for the original decision.

We aim to provide the outcome of an internal review within 20 working days. This period may be extended by up to a further 20 working days where the review is complex. We will notify you if an extension is required.

The internal review outcome is our final response under this complaints process.

12. If You Remain Dissatisfied

There is no general ombudsman that determines complaints about independent solicitor directories.

Depending on the subject of your complaint, another organisation may nevertheless be able to consider a related concern.

Data protection complaints

If you believe we have not handled your personal information in accordance with data protection law, you may complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office.

You should generally raise the matter with us first so that we have an opportunity to investigate and respond.

Complaints about legal services

Complaints about a solicitor or law firm’s service should be directed to the provider concerned and may later be eligible for consideration by the Legal Ombudsman.

Regulatory conduct concerns

Serious concerns about the conduct of a regulated solicitor or law firm may be reportable to the Solicitors Regulation Authority or another relevant legal services regulator.

The fact that we identify an external organisation does not mean that the organisation has jurisdiction over the complaint or will investigate it.

13. Complaints About Information From an Official Source

Some information displayed by Review A Solicitor is reproduced or derived from information maintained by the Solicitors Regulation Authority or another public or regulatory source.

Where a complaint concerns the accuracy of the original source record:

We will check whether our directory accurately reflects the source
We will correct any error introduced by Review A Solicitor
We may ask the solicitor or firm to request a correction from the source organisation
We may place a temporary note on the profile where there is credible evidence that the source record is disputed
We may update the directory after the official source has been corrected

We cannot alter the underlying record held by the SRA or another regulator.

14. Fairness and Conflicts of Interest

A law firm’s decision to purchase an enhanced profile, advertising or another commercial service will not prevent a member of the public from making a complaint about Review A Solicitor.

Similarly, a firm’s decision not to purchase services will not affect its right to complain or request correction of inaccurate information.

Complaints involving a commercial customer will be considered under the same published process. Where a potential conflict of interest exists, we will take reasonable steps to ensure that the complaint is reviewed objectively.

15. Abusive, Persistent or Unreasonable Behaviour

We are committed to treating complainants fairly, respectfully and courteously. We expect complainants and their representatives to communicate with our team in the same way.

In rare circumstances, we may restrict the way we communicate with a person where their behaviour:

Is abusive, threatening, discriminatory or harassing
Places unreasonable demands on our team
Involves excessive or repetitive correspondence that adds no material information
Repeatedly raises matters that have already completed the complaints and review process
Attempts to prevent us from conducting a fair investigation
Involves knowingly false or misleading information

Possible restrictions may include:

Requiring communication to be made in writing
Using a single point of contact
Limiting responses to material new information
Declining to reconsider a matter that has already been finally determined

Any restriction will be proportionate and, where practicable, explained in writing.

Restricting correspondence will not remove a person’s statutory data protection rights, prevent us from responding to legitimate new concerns or affect any legal obligation we owe.

16. Confidentiality and Personal Information

We will handle complaints with appropriate confidentiality and in accordance with our Privacy Policy.

Information supplied in connection with a complaint may be used to:

Assess and investigate the complaint
Verify identity, authority or profile ownership
Communicate with the complainant
Seek information from a law firm, regulator or service provider
Obtain professional advice
Protect the Website, our users and our legal rights
Improve our services and complaints processes
Meet legal and regulatory obligations

We will only share complaint information where there is an appropriate reason to do so. Complete confidentiality cannot be guaranteed where disclosure is necessary to investigate the complaint fairly, comply with the law or allow another person to respond to an allegation.

17. Recording and Learning From Complaints

We may record and analyse complaints to identify:

Repeated data accuracy problems
Problems with profile claims
Technical or accessibility issues
Training requirements
Weaknesses in our policies or processes
Opportunities to improve the directory

Where appropriate, complaint information may be anonymised and used for internal reporting and service improvement.

18. Review of This Policy

We will review this Complaints Policy periodically and may update it to reflect:

Changes to our Website or services
Changes to legal or regulatory requirements
New guidance for digital comparison tools
Changes to our internal complaints procedures
Lessons identified through previous complaints

The current version will be published on the Website. The effective date and most recent review date will appear at the top of the policy.

19. Contact Details

Complaints and requests for an internal review should be sent to: