Bar Mutual Complaints Procedure
Any Member of Bar Mutual (its “Insureds”) can complain about the service provided by Bar Mutual (a “Service Complaint”).
Any person who is not a Member of Bar Mutual (i.e. who is not insured by Bar Mutual) may also use this complaints procedure, but only in relation to a complaint about the conduct of any person representing Bar Mutual (a “Conduct Complaint”). This complaints procedure cannot be used to complain about a decision Bar Mutual has taken in relation to a claim made against one of its Insureds. A Conduct Complaint cannot therefore include any challenge to claims handling decisions made by Bar Mutual.
Service and Conduct Complaints, setting out the full details of the complaint, should be sent to Bar Mutual as follows:
Phone: +44 (0) 20 7621 0405.
Email: to the Chief Executive Officer at info@barmutual.co.uk
Post: to the Chief Executive Officer, Bar Mutual Indemnity Fund Ltd, 90 Fenchurch Street, London EC3M 4ST.
Complaints are acknowledged in writing within one week of their receipt. The acknowledgement will include the name and job title of the person who will be considering the complaint.
Within two weeks of receiving a complaint Bar Mutual will advise the complainant of any further information that is required to determine the complaint.
If all the information reasonably required to consider the complaint has been provided, Bar Mutual will aim to provide a reply to the complaint within six weeks of receiving it. However, Bar Mutual reserves the right to take up to eight weeks to provide a reply. If a reply to the complaint cannot be provided within eight weeks, Bar Mutual will provide a written explanation, an estimate of the time it thinks it will take to provide a reply to the complaint and details of how, in the event of a Service Complaint, the complaint can be referred to the Financial Ombudsman Service, if the complainant wishes to and is eligible to do so at that stage.
Bar Mutual will provide its decision (the “Decision”) on the outcome of complaints in writing with a summary of the reasons for its Decision and, if appropriate, any remedy it proposes. The Decision taken by Bar Mutual will have been agreed by one of the Deputy Chairs of Bar Mutual.
In respect of Service Complaints only, an appeal can be made to the Chair of Bar Mutual where a complainant is not satisfied with Bar Mutual’s Decision and/or with the remedy proposed. The appeal should provide written reasons for the dissatisfaction with the Decision and be sent by email, together with a copy of all documents and correspondence in connection with the Service Complaint, to the Chair of Bar Mutual at info@barmutual.co.uk, or by post, marked Private & Confidential, to 90 Fenchurch Street, London, EC3M 4ST. The Chair may delegate consideration of the appeal to another member of the Board.
The appeal will be acknowledged within one week of it being received and a full response to the appeal will be provided within four weeks (the “Appeal Decision”). The Appeal Decision may uphold, reverse or vary the Decision or remedy offered.
If a service complainant is unhappy with the Decision and/or the Appeal Decision , the complaint may be referred to the Financial Ombudsman Service, provided it meets the requirements of the Financial Ombudsman Scheme, the contact details for which can be found at the following website: www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk