If you are unhappy with the service you have received from an insolvency practitioner in any of their insolvency appointments, you can complain through the Insolvency Complaints Gateway. That covers the personal appointments as well as the corporate ones: a trustee in bankruptcy, a nominee or supervisor of an individual voluntary arrangement or a company voluntary arrangement, a liquidator or provisional liquidator, an administrator or an administrative receiver. Work outside an insolvency appointment, such as acting as a Law of Property Act receiver, is not covered. Every insolvency practitioner is authorised by a recognised professional body, so the Gateway reaches all of them.
You should always try to resolve your complaint with the insolvency practitioner first. However, if you are still unhappy, you should lodge your complaint with the Insolvency Complaints Gateway. A complaint about a personal insolvency appointment goes to the Gateway in the same way as a corporate one. The Financial Ombudsman Service is not a substitute route: it deals with complaints about firms carrying on activities the Financial Conduct Authority regulates, such as debt advice or debt management provided by a regulated firm. If the complaint is about an insolvency appointment, the Gateway is the route; if it is about a regulated financial service that happened to be sold alongside it, the Ombudsman may be. And if what you are really challenging is a decision the office-holder has taken in the case, that is an application to court, not a complaint at all. The Gateway also cannot consider a commercial or legal dispute within the insolvency proceedings, or a matter you first became aware of more than three years ago.
Who can complain?
Anyone who is dissatisfied with the service they have received or the conduct of an insolvency practitioner, or someone carrying out work on their behalf, can complain. This includes:
- Debtors
- Creditors
- Employees
- Directors and shareholders of a company
Who will consider the complaint?
A member of the Insolvency Service’s staff will undertake the initial review of the complaint and decide whether the complaint is suitable to be forwarded onto the authorising body. It is then the role of the relevant authorising body to investigate the complaint and issue sanctions against the insolvency practitioner where appropriate.
How long do complaints take to resolve?
Within 15 business days of receiving your complaint, the Gateway will either pass it to the relevant recognised professional body or tell you that it has been rejected. If the complaint is passed on, the professional body investigates it under its own procedure and timescale. Many complaints take several months, and some take a year or more. You will receive an update on the progress of the investigation. You will then be advised of the outcome once the decision has been made.
What outcome can you expect?
Even if your complaint is valid, not all errors will lead to action being taken against the insolvency practitioner. For example, if an IP is slow to deal with a small amount of correspondence, that will not necessarily lead to disciplinary action. However, there are various infringements and examples of misconduct which, if proven by the investigation, can lead to a sanction. The recognised professional body decides the type and level of sanction using the Common Sanctions Guidance. Sanctions can be both financial and non-financial. A common sanctions guidance document is available.
It is also important to note that the authorising body cannot award compensation, or compel an insolvency practitioner to pay compensation, for any financial loss you may have incurred.