More than 900 complaints were received about insolvency practitioners in the first year of a new scheme to make the process simpler.

The Insolvency Service today revealed a sharp rise in complaints since its complaints gateway was created in June 2013.

In the first year of the gateway’s operation, 941 complaints were received by regulators, compared with 748 in 2012/13 and 578 in 2011/12.

Of the 941, 699 were referred, 170 were rejected and 72 are still being processed.

Graham Rumney, chief executive of insolvency trade body R3, welcome more transparency and accessibility in the complaints process and said the complaints figures were ‘encouraging’ given the tens of thousands of cases practitioners handle each year.

‘The UK has a world class insolvency regime but it’s not beyond improvement,’ he added. ‘We look forward to working with the Insolvency Service to further develop the gateway and other initiatives that will help creditors and debtors get a fairer deal from insolvency.’

The most common complaint was about communication breakdown, accounting for 167 complaints, with voluntary arrangements also receiving a high number of complaints.

The majority (294) came from debtors, with creditors making 231 complaints.

Dr Richard Judge, chief executive of the Insolvency Service, said the data will allow his team to identify a pattern of complaints. This has already had an effect, he said, in changing how professional bodies deal with individual voluntary agreements.