The Insolvency Service Customer Charter
The Insolvency Service's commitment to our customers.
The Insolvency Service helps to deliver economic confidence by supporting those in financial distress, tackling financial wrongdoing and maximising returns to creditors.
The Insolvency Service is committed to understanding what all our customers need from us. We aim to meet our targets in every case, and we regularly monitor and review our performance.
Our standards
Getting things right
We’ll give you accurate, consistent and clear information.
When we ask for information, we rely on you to give us full, accurate and timely answers.
If you disagree with us, we’ll tell you about the options available to you and work with you to reach an appropriate outcome quickly and simply.
We’ll be honest about our performance and how well we do our work.
We’ll be clear about which of our services have fees and how much they will cost.
Making things easy
We are a digital first organisation. We’ll provide digital services that:
- are designed around what you need to do
- are accessible
- are easy and quick to use
- minimise the cost to you
We’ll continue to improve our services to make sure that they are available to use at a time that suits you. You can find contact details for the Insolvency Service on GOV.UK.
Being responsive
When you get in touch with us, we’ll make sure that the people you deal with have the right level of expertise. We’ll also explain what happens next and advise when you can expect a response from us.
We’ll answer your questions and try to resolve things first time, or as quickly as we can.
If we make a mistake, we’ll put it right as soon as possible.
If you’re not satisfied with the service you’ve received, we’ll explain how you can make a complaint.
We aim to:
- answer 85% of the customer service calls we receive within 2 minutes.
- respond to your written correspondence within 15 working days of when we get it.
- respond within 20 working days where an MP writes to us on your behalf (this includes Members of Scottish Parliament and Welsh Assembly Members)
- explain why and when you will get a full response if we cannot respond in the time stated above.
Treating you fairly
We will be helpful, polite and treat you fairly, with respect.
Being aware of your personal situation
We’ll be mindful of your wider personal situation. Where you ask for extra help, we’ll do what we can to accommodate your request.
Recognising that someone can represent you
Where possible, we’ll aim to respect your wish to have someone else deal with us on your behalf, such as a friend, relative or third-party organisation. We’ll only deal with them if you have authorised them to represent you.
Keeping your data secure
We’ll protect information we hold about you and we’ll always use that information fairly and lawfully.
Our personal information charter explains how we keep your information secure.
Mutual respect
We take any threats, intimidation, or harassment very seriously and we will take appropriate action against any behaviour of this type.
We will always treat you in line with our values of:
- Inclusivity and Wellbeing: we will trust, support and respect you, and we recognise the diversity of our customers
- Flexibility: we will work in a way that aims to meet your specific needs
- Performance: we will ensure you receive the high standard of service you expect from us
In return, we expect you to treat our staff with the same respect and courtesy.
We will try to understand your circumstances. We’ll assume you’re providing the right information and evidence, unless we’ve good reason to think you’re not. In some circumstances, we may need to verify this with third parties.
If you are not happy with the service that you have received
We are committed to providing a professional, fair and efficient service to our customers. We aim to continuously improve our services and act on feedback and comments.
We want to know if you think something has gone wrong with the service we have provided. That way we can try and put it right. If you are dissatisfied, you can make a complaint. The Insolvency Service will aim to deal with your complaint quickly and fairly.
If you are not happy with our final response to your complaint, you can send it to the Parliamentary and Health Services Ombudsman. The Ombudsman is independent from the government. Their process requires you to contact your MP and ask them to refer your complaints to the Ombudsman. You cannot complain yourself, directly.
The ombudsman will expect you to have finished our internal complaints procedure before you contact them. We’ll tell you when you’ve reached the end of our complaint’s procedure. Further information is available on the Ombudsman’s complaints process.
Feedback
We will regularly review how the Charter standards apply in all aspects of its work.
We also publish our customer satisfaction results each year as well as progress and priorities for further improvement.
Contact the Insolvency Service
Use our general enquiry form to contact us about:
- bankruptcy
- debt relief orders
- breathing space
- company liquidations
- redundancy payments
Making a complaint to the Insolvency Service
Searching the Individual Insolvency Register
For more information about the Insolvency Service
We welcome any feedback about your interactions with us and how we have performed against the Charter.
How we monitor and report on performance against the Charter
Performance against the Charter is monitored by specific service standards, customer surveys and other data, linked to wider Insolvency Service performance measures.
We publish our performance against these measures in our annual report.