Make a Complaint
The following outlines how you make a complaint about one of our members and the IPA’s process for dealing with that complaint.
We act in the public interest and seek to ensure that our members act with integrity and undertake work to high standards. If an Insolvency Practitioner is a member of the IPA and allegedly commits misconduct, the IPA is interested to know about it. It is important for the IPA to receive feedback on the performance of IPs since this assists us in maintaining standards.
Remember, we can only get involved if the individual or firm is a member of the IPA.
What can I complain about?
You can complain about an Insolvency Practitioner’s conduct in the last three years, or more than three years ago if you first found evidence of the issue within the past three years. However, the complaint cannot relate to a disagreement that arises in trade or commerce or a dispute about legal rights or legal obligations. These matters should be dealt with by the courts.
A complaint must be intended to bring about an improvement in the Insolvency Practitioner’s performance and not simply as a tactic to pursue personal vested interests.
Before you make a complaint
In many cases, issues can be resolved by talking to the Insolvency Practitioner. A large proportion of insolvency complaints arise due to a breakdown in communication between the Insolvency Practitioner and the person complaining. In most cases, the Insolvency Practitioner or their firm will have an internal complaints procedure and, if you wish to complain, you are encouraged to try to resolve the complaint directly with the Insolvency Practitioner where possible. This will often be a quicker method of resolving your complaint.
How to complain
If you find you are still unable to resolve the problem, or if it is not appropriate for you to contact the Insolvency Practitioner (e.g. in instances of fraud), your next step is to file a complaint via the Insolvency Service Gateway.
When we receive a complaint
The Insolvency Service Gateway will assess a complaint and if it considers the complaint requires further consideration by the IPA, the complaint will be forwarded to the IPA.
The person who submits the complaint is referred to by the IPA as the Informant. This is because they are providing information to the IPA which enables it to perform its regulatory duties concerning Insolvency Practitioners.
The facts are considered by our Regulatory Investigations team, which seeks to establish the nature of the Informant’s complaint and whether there might have been misconduct. This will usually require communication with the Informant and with the Insolvency Practitioner. The team will establish whether there are reasonable grounds for considering disciplinary action against the Insolvency Practitioner.
Disciplinary action will only be justified where there is evidence that a serious breach of professional duty has occurred. Minor errors of judgment, acts of negligence and innocent mistakes are not necessarily misconduct; nor are inefficiency and incompetence unless it is so serious or so discreditable as to bring an Insolvency Practitioner, the IPA, or the profession more generally, into disrepute.
If it is decided that there are no grounds for the complaint to proceed, we shall explain the position to the Informant. If the Informant disagrees with this outcome, they may request a review of the decision.
If in their dealings with the Regulatory Investigations team a person behaves in a way that is unreasonable or vexatious, we will follow this policy.
Disciplinary action
If we determine there are grounds for formal disciplinary action, we will present the Insolvency Practitioner with one or more formal allegations. The allegation(s) can then be considered by the IPA’s Regulation and Conduct Committee (R&CC). The R&CC will consider whether a prima facie case of misconduct has been made out and whether and/or how to exercise any of its powers set out in Conduct Rule 4.5 or any of its other powers, including its powers under the Regulatory Rules (which may be found on the IPA website).
If the R&CC is satisfied that there is a case of misconduct, it may either ask the Insolvency Practitioner to agree to a sanction through a process known as a consent order or, for less serious matters, issue a warning letter. In some cases, the R&CC may decide that the matter needs to be referred to a Disciplinary Tribunal. This typically occurs for more serious complaints or if the Insolvency Practitioner fails to respond to or accept the consent order offered by the R&CC. Disciplinary Tribunals are heard by members of the IPA’s Disciplinary and Appeals Committee (D&AC).
The two Committees explained
The R&CC and the D&AC form the two tiers of the IPA’s regulatory Committees. They are responsible for decision-making on matters relating to Insolvency Practitioners’ conduct, including disciplinary action.
Both Committees are composed of Insolvency Practitioners and lay members. The R&CC operates with a lay majority at meetings, and Tribunals are carried out with two Insolvency Practitioners and one lay member. An independent legal assessor, who takes no part in the decision-making, is also present at a Tribunal.
What kind of sanctions can the IPA issue?
The Committees have various powers to sanction Insolvency Practitioners, including making a finding with no further action and issuing non-financial and financial penalties. The IPA and its Committees have no express power to make an Insolvency Practitioner or firm pay compensation. However, its Committees may order the Insolvency Practitioner to pay the IPA’s costs incurred during the investigation and adjudication of a complaint.
How long does it take to resolve a complaint?
When a complaint is received by the IPA, it will be acknowledged within ten working days, and you can expect regular updates until the matter is resolved. Most complaints are concluded within three to six months, although, in some cases, resolution may take longer.
The time required to resolve a complaint depends on its complexity, the level of necessary communication with involved parties, and the timeliness of responses from all sides. We must ensure that disciplinary processes are conducted thoroughly, so complaints that progress to a Tribunal may take longer than the typical timeframe.
Please note that the IPA cannot expedite investigations at the request of individuals. Requests for urgency that are deemed excessive or disruptive to the process will be managed according to this policy.
Confidentiality of correspondence and reports
Please note that the IPA seeks to maintain strict confidentiality regarding all correspondence received from the Insolvency Practitioner during an investigation, however, the IPA may be required to share information with third parties such as its advisors, regulatory or law enforcement bodies, or as required by law.
The IPA does not routinely provide correspondence to the informant during its enquiries but may do so when necessary to establish facts or to fulfil its regulatory duties. For example, if the IPA considers it necessary, the Insolvency Practitioner’s response(s) to the complaint may be provided to (or summarised for) the informant to assist in the IPA’s investigation of the complaint.
If there are compelling and exceptional reasons for confidentiality (e.g. where disclosure would conflict with legal or professional obligations) or if there is relevant information that the Insolvency Practitioner does not want the informant to see, the Insolvency Practitioner should provide it in a separate document and clearly mark at the top that it is “confidential and not for disclosure to the informant”. The Insolvency Practitioner should explain why you think it should not be shown to the informant who raised the concern (for example, because they are on the other side in ongoing litigation, or the Insolvency Practitioner wants to provide personal or medical information).
The IPA will make the final decision as to whether the information will be disclosed to the informant who raised the concern, but the IPA will carefully consider the Insolvency Practitioner’s reasons for wanting to keep the information confidential. (If the concern about the Insolvency Practitioner’s conduct was raised by one of your clients, the IPA’s view is that the client has waived their right to confidentiality to the extent that the Insolvency Practitioner can respond to the concerns they have reported). If the Insolvency Practitioner wants to discuss the need to provide confidential documents as part of your response, please contact the member of our staff dealing with the complaint.
The Insolvency Practitioner’s response(s) to the complaint (and, where deemed appropriate, relevant attachments) will usually be provided to those members of the Regulation and Conduct Committee who are considering the complaint against the Insolvency Practitioner, (and if relevant to any other Disciplinary Tribunal, Appeal Panel or court seized with the complaint).
Reports and supporting documentation prepared for the IPA’s Regulatory and Disciplinary Committees / Tribunals / Panels are strictly confidential, as are the minutes of any Committee / Tribunal / Panel discussions.
If complaints against Insolvency Practitioners are upheld, the IPA may publish a summary of the complaint or details of a Tribunal’s / Panel’s decision, in which case the names of third parties will usually be redacted.
Except as described above, all correspondence between the IPA and the parties to a complaint remains private and confidential and should not be disclosed to third parties or used for any other purpose.
The IPA’s privacy notice is available here: IPA Privacy Notice.
Useful resources
IPA complaints guidance leaflet