ICAS has responsibility for handling complaints lodged against members. Member Firms will usually appoint a person within the firm with specific responsibility for dealing with clients’ complaints.
If you have a complaint, you should first raise your concerns with the Chartered Accountant or nominated partner within the firm in an attempt to resolve matters. If having gone through this process you remain dissatisfied you may contact the Institute to discuss the way forward.
Assessment
All letters of complaint are reviewed to assess whether there are grounds for complaint and whether the complaint is capable of being resolved by conciliation to the satisfaction of the member and client.
If the complaint is incapable of being resolved by conciliation, and relates to possible professional misconduct or professional incompetence, an investigator will be appointed to investigate your complaint. The investigator will contact the Member who is being complained about and may contact you for further information. The investigator will be the main point of contact in relation to your complaint.
If the investigator determines that there are no grounds for complaint then you will be advised of the decision and reasons at the earliest opportunity. The investigator’s decision is subject to review by Panel, comprised of three members of IPCEC (two of whom are Public Interest Members).
Following its review of the case file, the Panel may either uphold or reject the investigator’s decision. In the event that the investigator’s decision is upheld, you will be so advised and the Institute’s involvement in the matter will be at an end. If the decision of the investigator’s is rejected the complaint will be referred to IPCEC for investigation.
Investigation
Where a complaint indicates that the member may be liable to disciplinary action on the grounds of professional misconduct or professional incompetence, and the complaint does not raise issues affecting the public interest in the United Kingdom, the Convener of the IPCEC will usually appoint an Investigating Panel (selected from the members of IPCEC) to undertake detailed investigations so that a full assessment of the facts and circumstances can be made. The Investigating Panel, which includes at least one public interest member, will be assisted by the investigator and will make a number of enquiries in order to determine whether or not the member is liable to disciplinary action.
If the IPCEC considers that the complaint does raise issues affecting the public interest in the United Kingdom it will consider whether the matter requires to be referred to the Accountancy Investigation and Discipline Board (AIDB) to be dealt with in accordance with the AIDB Scheme.
A decision of the Investigating Panel that a member is liable to disciplinary action must be reviewed by an Adjudication Committee (being five members of IPCEC who have not been involved in the investigation of the complaint, one of whom must be legally qualified). If the Adjudication Committee concludes that the member is liable to disciplinary action then it shall exercise all the powers and perform the duties of IPCEC under the Rules.
Outcome
If IPCEC decides that the member is liable to disciplinary action it may either (a) refer a formal complaint to the Institute’s Discipline Tribunal or, (b) where the facts and matters are not of a most serious character, issue a range of sanctions as it sees fit. You will be informed in writing in the event that any such sanctions are imposed, though you should note that the Institute’s Rules do not provide for publicity of such decisions.
Formal Complaints to the Discipline Tribunal are governed in terms of Chapter XII of the Institute’s Rules. Whilst you will be advised of the outcome publicity of any decision is a matter for the Tribunal.
If IPCEC decides that there is no case to answer you will be informed in writing of the decision and provided with full reasons.
External Review
There is no Ombudsman for the accountancy profession though decisions of IPCEC may be subject to review on application to the Institute's Independent Examiner.
You may in certain circumstances apply for the decision to be reviewed by an Independent Examiner, who is neither an accountant nor an official of the Institute.
In addition, the complaints function of ICAS is monitored by The Department of Trade and Industry and by the Public Oversight Board (POB). If you are dissatisfied with the way in which ICAS had handled a complaint you should first raise those concerns with ICAS. If you remain dissatisfied you may then raise your concerns with POB, which will consider the process that ICAS had adopted. POB will not consider the merits of an individual case or second guess the conclusions reached by ICAS.
Complaints to POB should be made in writing to Professional Oversight Board, 5th Floor Aldwych, 71-79 Aldwych, London, WC2B 4HN or emailed to pob@frc.org.uk.