Correspondence between the IPs/RPBs and Debtors/Creditors

As long ago as 2000 the IPC recommended that there should be a standard of best practice to ensure that IPs keep debtors and creditors informed in a meaningful way of what is happening. It was suggested that a standard should be set that correspondence would be answered within 10 working days.

This recommendation has featured regularly in IPC annual reports since that time. Although some guidance has been provided to IPs in general terms and the subject has been discussed in the JIC again last year, it has still not been resolved to the satisfaction of the IPC. The recommendation from the IPC Annual Report for 2005 is therefore repeated again this year.

Recommendations
We recommend that all the RPBs should give guidance to their IPs that, as a standard of good practice, they should reply to all correspondence from creditors, debtors or the general public within 10 working days. If a substantive reply is not possible within that period, a holding reply should be sent, indicating when a substantive reply will be given.

The JIC should incorporate this as a statement of good practice in the revised ethical guide currently under discussion (or wherever deemed most appropriate). The RPBs should also take appropriate action to monitor and, if necessary, discipline IPs who persistently fail to meet this performance level. The RPBs should meet the same standards in their own correspondence with complainants and other members of the public.

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