Making a complaint against an insolvency practitioner has recently been made easier with the launch of a single complaints gateway by the Insolvency Service.

The move, announced by Business Minister Jo Swinson, in the event of a company entering insolvency, will now mean that creditors such as property landlords are able to lodge their complaints with the Insolvency Service, rather than relying on the previous system where complaints could be made to any one of eight regulators.

Business Minister Jo Swinson said: “An easy route to complain is important for consumers – especially when they are going through a bankruptcy or have suffered from a company’s failure and they think an insolvency practitioner has not acted correctly.

“This new Complaints Gateway will help consumers dealing with the insolvency industry to get speedier resolution of problems and easier access to the right information. Such problems might, for example, be poor communication by the practitioner or worries about their independence.

“I am pleased that the insolvency profession shares our desire to improve the public’s perception and confidence in the insolvency regime.”

The move has been welcomed by the British Property Federation.

Ian Fletcher, director of policy at the BPF, said: “Now’s not the time to again question why this reform has taken so long to deliver, what’s important is that creditors get an improved service and speed of outcome from the large number of regulators. A single complaints portal will help achieve this.

“We hope this announcement will also provide fresh impetus to the question of expenses in administration. Currently, rent owed to a landlord prior to the appointment of administrators is not treated as a cost of the administration. This has led to many tenants being put into administration just after quarter day enabling them to use the premises for the remainder of the quarter without having to pay rent whilst the landlord recovers nothing as an unsecured creditor.”