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Insolvency Practitioner Complaints Gateway levy increase from 2027
The Insolvency Practitioner Complaints Gateway plays an important role in maintaining confidence in the insolvency regulatory framework. It provides a single route for complaints about insolvency practitioners and helps ensure that potential regulatory concerns are identified and considered consistently and proportionately.
Following discussion agreement with the Recognised Professional Bodies (RPBs), the Insolvency Service reviewed the funding of the Gateway and concluded that an increase in the levy was necessary to ensure the service remained sustainable and fully cost-recovered. The levy will therefore increase from £99 to £181 per licensed insolvency practitioner from 1 January 2027.
The levy funds the operation of the Gateway. Each complaint is assessed consistently and fairly to determine whether it raises a potential regulatory concern. In 2026, around 85% of complaints considered by the Gateway have not been referred to an RPB. This triage prevents regulators and insolvency practitioners from meeting the cost and burden of handling complaints that fall outside the regulatory framework or do not provide sufficient evidence of a potential breach of professional standards.
Increasing complaint volumes and costs
Complaint volumes and complexity have increased significantly in recent years. The Annual Review of Insolvency Practitioner Regulation 2025 reported a substantial increase in complaints, and that trend has continued.
The Gateway is expected to receive more than 1,000 complaints in 2026, representing an increase of almost 60% compared with 2024. Additional resource has been required to manage this demand and maintain service standards. The largest proportion of the levy increase will fund the additional resource and associated costs.
The levy is rising by a greater percentage than complaint volumes because it must also cover costs that are not directly linked to case numbers, including the case management system and an existing funding shortfall.
An updated case management system has been introduced to improve the Gateway's ability to manage cases efficiently, meet service levels and provide better management information. Around £6 of the increase per licensed insolvency practitioner will fund the ongoing cost of the system.
Rising operating costs since the last levy review have created a funding shortfall. The levy increase will address this shortfall and ensure the Gateway’s operating costs are fully recovered.
Alternative options considered
We recognise that an increase from £99 to £181 is substantial and will be unwelcome.
In developing this proposal for an increase, the Insolvency Service considered alternative options and implemented a range of efficiencies to manage rising demand. While these measures helped mitigate cost pressures, they are no longer enough to manage current complaint volumes sustainably.
Resources have also been diverted from other regulatory and oversight activities to support delivery of the Gateway service. Although this approach has enabled the service to continue operating effectively, it is not sustainable and reduces the capacity available for other work that benefits the profession.
Value provided by the Gateway
The Gateway plays an important role in ensuring that regulatory resources are focused on complaints which may indicate a breach of professional standards.
In 2025, the Gateway closed or rejected 826 complaints without referral to an RPB.
This triage function reduces avoidable work for regulators and the profession, allowing time and resources to be focused on genuine regulatory concerns. Without the Gateway, the cost of assessing these complaints would still fall on the profession elsewhere within the regulatory system.
The Gateway provides a clear end point for complaints that do not warrant further action. Where a practitioner’s complaints process has been exhausted by an individual, further concerns can be directed to the Gateway for an independent assessment. This limits repeated contact with practitioners about matters that have already been considered, reducing the time and cost of further correspondence.
The Gateway also provides valuable intelligence on complaint trends, emerging risks and wider issues affecting the profession. This supports a more proactive, targeted approach to regulation. It helps direct oversight and regulatory activity to the areas where it can have the greatest impact.
Future reform
The levy increase will provide the resilience and capacity needed to manage current demand while wider reforms to the complaints process are developed.
These reforms will focus on creating efficiencies so that future increases in demand can be managed without a corresponding increase in staffing. The reforms are intended to create a more efficient and sustainable model, reducing the need for future levy increases and delivering better value for money for the profession.
The Insolvency Service will continue to work with the RPBs to review how complaints are triaged and handled, how technology can support a more efficient process, and how the Gateway should operate and be funded in the longer term.
The aim is to develop a complaints system that is proportionate, efficient, sustainable and delivers better value for money for the profession through a sustainable long-term funding model.
We will be working closely with the RPBs as this work progresses.
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