Adjudicator

2.Main Content

This page contains information about the Adjudicator's Office, including:
What it does
Advantages and disadvantages
What complaints are eligible?
Cost
Timescale
Procedure
Outcomes

What it does
The Adjudicator's Office deals with complaints about HM Revenue and Customs, and some other agencies. HM Revenue and Customs deals with income tax, national insurance contributions, child benefit and tax credits.

This information applies in England and Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland. You can also complain to the Adjudicator if you live abroad but pay UK tax.
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Advantages

it is free.
it is private and confidential
there is no need to attend a hearing

Disadvantages

not all types of complaints can be investigated
you can’t complain about matters which could go to a tribunal or to the courts
you can’t question decisions about amounts of tax payable

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What complaints are eligible?
The Adjudicator will investigate complaints about:

HM Revenue and Customs
The Insolvency Service
The Public Guardianship Office
The Valuation Office Agency

The Adjudicator considers complaints about the service provided by these organisations, including:

unreasonable delays
mistakes
poor or misleading advice
inappropriate staff behaviour
the use of discretion

There are some complaints the Adjudicator cannot consider:

Disputes about matters of law, which are dealt with by independent tribunals
Appeals about the award of tax credits, which are considered by the Independent Appeals Service
Complaints about the amount of tax you have been asked to pay
Complaints about government, or departmental, policy
Issues that the courts have already considered or could have considered
Complaints that have been, or are being, investigated by the Parliamentary Ombudsman

You must first complain directly to the organisation, and give them a chance to try to sort things out. If you are not happy with their final response, then you can take your complaint to the Adjudicator’s office.
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Cost
The scheme is free to complainants.

If the Adjudicator decides that the organisation complained about has failed to sort the matter out properly itself, then you can get reasonable costs back as part of your award. However, the Adjudicator considers that you don’t need a legal advisor to represent you; if you decide to have one, you will have to pay the cost yourself.
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Timescale
In 2007-08 the average turnaround time for investigations was 23.5 weeks, and 98.4% cases are closed within 44 weeks.
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Procedure
You can make a complaint in writing, by telephone, by e-mail, or in person at the Adjudicator’s office.

You will need to provide some basic information, including:

your own name, address and phone number
Your National Insurance number
details of your complaint
details of the office you are complaining about and any references they have given you
what you think the organisation could do to put things right

If you prefer, you can ask a relative, a friend or an adviser to make the complaint on your behalf.

Once you have contacted the Adjudicator’s office, someone will get back to you within ten working days to let you know whether or not they can take on your complaint.

You need to complain first of all to HM Revenue and Customs, or to the agency you have a problem with. If you haven’t yet done this, the Adjudicator’s office will explain how to do so.

The first thing the Adjudicator’s office will do, is to request all the information from the agency or department concerned. They will then try to resolve the complaint by talking to both sides. They refer to these negotiations as ‘mediation’. Around a third of complaints are resolved in this way.

If it is not possible to resolve the complaint at this stage, then the Adjudicator will investigate the case, and will issue a formal letter setting out her recommendations.

If you are still unhappy with the Adjudicator's decision, you can ask an MP to refer the complaint to the Parliamentary Ombudsman.
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Outcomes
In 2007-08 25% of complaints (excluding tax credits) were upheld. The highest proportion of complaints were about mishandling overpayment of tax credits, and 48% of these complaints were upheld in favour of the complainant.

Among the remedies the Adjudicator can recommend are:

an apology
compensation (including reimbursing costs and payments for distress)
writing off a debt of tax or interest

It is worth noting that compensation payments for distress are not very large, and will usually be between £25 and £500. Amounts towards the upper end of this range will only be awarded in very serious cases.

Although the Adjudicator's recommendation is not binding, the organisations involved have always complied with them.

As well as investigating individual complaints, the Adjudicator will also feed back common problems to the organisations concerned, and suggest ways to improve the service.

The Adjudicator's Office asks people who make a complaint to comment on the service they receive. During 2007-08:

66% were fairly or very satisfied with the outcome of their complaint
62% felt that the Adjudicator’s office was fairer than the government department they had complained about

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December 2008