How can I lodge a complaint?

What if I wish to complain about the conduct of a bankrupt?

If you wish to complain about the conduct of a person that is bankrupt, then please complete the Complaint Detail Sheet in the forms section of this site. On receipt of your complaint and supporting evidence, the Official Assignee will investigate the matter. The Official Assignee will endeavour to contact you within 10 working days of receiving your complaint.

Download the Complaint form [135 kB PDF].
 

What if I am not happy with a decision made by the Official Assignee?

If you encounter a problem, please tell us so that we can try to resolve it, and if appropriate, review our procedures to see if we can prevent the problem from occurring again.

You can lodge your complaint with the Insolvency and Trustee Service in writing.

Please make sure your written complaint includes:

• Your name and address
• Details of your complaint
• What you would like to happen to fix the problem
• Copies of any documents that support your complaint.

Our response

We undertake to get back to you within ten working days of receiving your complaint. If we are not able to resolve your complaint within that time frame we will give you an estimate of how long a full response will take.

Our response will include:

• A summary of the investigation into your complaint.
• One or more of the following, as appropriate:
• An explanation;
• Steps we can take to fix the problem;
• Steps we can take to ensure a problem does not reoccur.

If, after contacting us, you are still dissatisfied you may wish to contact:

• The High Court - Appeal from decision of Assignee (Section 226 of the Insolvency Act 2006): A person (including the bankrupt or a creditor) whose interests, monetary or otherwise, are detrimentally affected by an act or decision to which this section applies may apply to the Court to reverse or modify the act or decision.
• The Office of the Ombudsman (0800 802 602). An Ombudsman is an independent investigator who investigates complaints about the administrative acts and decisions of central and local government agencies, including decisions about requests for official information. An Ombudsman’s investigation is free and is conducted in private.
• The Privacy Commissioner (0800 803 909) if your complaint concerns a breach of your privacy.

If you are concerned about a decision reached by the Official Assignee, please contact us immediately for information about the appeal process.