Information Rights Team
Cannon House
18 Priory Queensway
Birmingham
B4 6FD
Tel: 0300 678 0015
xxx@xxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx
J Stewart
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx.xxx
www.gov.uk/insolvency-service
Our ref: FOI20/21-207
Date: 22/03/2021
Dear J Stewart
Re: Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Request
Thank you for your email of 03 March in which you requested from the Insolvency Service:
1) Can Insolvency Practitioners appointed a trustee by the court or by the Secretary of
State use force and violence to obtain domestic property from individuals and
families.
2) What punishment does the Insolvency Services inflict on rogue IP's who instruct
enforcement agent thugs who drag people from their homes for a civil matter?
3) How many complaints has the Insolvency Services received regarding IP's criminal
actions that have allowed thugs to inflict injuries and to terrorise their victims into
being made unlawfully homeless to benefit a trustee and others by unjust means
using force, threats and violence, when they know they can not use force to gain
entry to domestic homes for a civil 'debt' including so-called High Court enforcement
AGENTS.
4) How many IP's have been sent to prison for their part in these heinous crimes of
assault, battery and theft or terrorising or blackmailing their victims into believing they
have to leave their homes or they will be instructing thugs to use force against them.
Your request has been dealt with under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA).
I can confirm the agency holds some of the information that you have requested and have
provided answers to your questions below:
1) In response to point one I direct you to the following sections of the Insolvency Act
1986 (IA86):
s305(2) IA86 The function of the trustee is to get in, realise and distribute the
bankrupt’s estate […] and in the carrying out of that function and in the management
of the bankrupt’s estate the trustee is entitled […] to use his own discretion.
s311(2) IA86 In relation to, and for the purpose of acquiring or retaining possession
of the bankrupt’s estate, the trustee is in the same position as if he were a receiver of
property appointed by the High Court; and the court may, on his application, enforce
such acquisition or retention accordingly.
Therefore, in carrying out their duties as trustee, an insolvency practitioner may
decide to apply to the court to enforce possession of any property comprised in the
bankruptcy estate, and any order of the court may, ultimately, lead to the
appointment of a High Court Enforcement Agent (HCEA). However, the Insolvency
Service does not oversee the actions of High Court Enforcement Agents.
2) As the above legislation indicates, Insolvency Practitioners may apply for the
appointment of a HCEA and therefore no punishment would be attached to such an
action.
3) We have searched our systems for any complaints about an IP using a HCEA. We
have not been able to find any complaints that are part of a referral, rejection or
closure reasoning that are logged, as far back as 2015. This does not mean we have
never received a complaint that has potentially included this issue but there are no
currently recorded complaints directly linked to the use of HCEA.
4) No IPs have been sent to prison for the use of HCEA
If you are not satisfied with the response we have provided you and would like us to reconsider
our decision by way of an internal review (IR), please contact our Information Rights Team at
xxx@xxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx or by post at:
Information Rights Team
The Insolvency Service
3rd Floor
Cannon House
18 Priory Queensway
Birmingham
B4 6FD
United Kingdom
You also have the right to contact the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) if you wish for
them to investigate any complaint you may have regarding our handling of your request.
However, please note that the ICO is likely to expect an IR to have been completed in the first
instance.
Yours sincerely,
Information Rights Team
The Insolvency Service
The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, Official receivers and the Adjudicator are Data
Controllers in respect of personal data processed by the Insolvency Service. For the details about how personal
data is processed by the agency, please see the full Insolvency Service Personal Information Charter here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/insolvency-service/about/personal-information-charter