April 2009

Part 3 Other forms of request

81A.35  Telephone enquiries and the public register (EIIR) 

Where an inquiry is dealt with over the telephone care should be taken not to breach the provisions of the DPA. If an enquiry is received by telephone, the caller can be provided with any information which is held on the Individual Insolvency Register (EIIR) or the registers of disqualified directors and bankruptcy restrictions available on The Service's web-site. If an individual’s details do not appear on these public registers, a search of the other computer systems should not be undertaken and telephone inquirers should be informed that the matter cannot be dealt with over the telephone.

The duration of entries on the EIIR is limited by Rules 6A.3, 6A.5, 6A.5B, 6A.7 and 6A.7B so that, for example, all information relating to a bankruptcy will be deleted three months from the date of discharge.  Inquirers may be told that the Insolvency Service’s internal records may contain details of cases which are not included in the public register and that, while such details cannot be discussed over the telephone, they may, if they exist, be disclosable, depending on the inquirer’s interest. If the inquirer wishes to pursue the matter it must be by letter, fax or email.

81A.35A  The Insolvency (amendment) Rules 2010

(December 2010)

Bankruptcy orders in which annulments have been made under sections 261(2)(a), 261 (2)(b), 263D(3) or 282(1)(b) i.e. following the acceptance of and IVA or FTVA proposal or the debts have been paid in full, shall remain on the EIIR for a period of 3 months following notice being given to the SoS of the annulment being granted.

Bankruptcy orders in which annulments made under section 282(1)(a), the order ought not have been made shall remain on the EIIR for a period of 28 days following notice being given to the SoS of the annulment being granted

If the order is rescinded under section 375, it shall remain on the EIIR for a period of 28 days after the SoS has received notification of the order to rescind.

If the debtor has a stay of advertisement in place up to the annulment hearing, official receivers should give consideration to notifying debtors and their solicitors of these provisions so they can consider seeking a further stay as part of the annulment order to prevent the details appearing on the EIIR.

81A.36  IVA details held on the public register (EIIR)

The entry of all individual voluntary arrangements (IVA) onto the public register (EIIR) is determined by Insolvency Rule 6A.2. The same approach as outlined in pararaph 81A.35 should be taken when telephone enquiries are received. The removal of IVA details from the EIIR is determined by Rule 6A.3 which states that the Secretary of State shall delete from the individual insolvency register all information concerning an individual voluntary arrangement  where:

a) he receives notice under Rule 5.30(5) or Rule 5.46(4) of the making of a revocation order in respect of the arrangement; or

b) he receives notice under Rule 5.34(3) or Rule 5.50(3) of the full implementation or termination of the arrangement.

and in either case a period of three months has elapsed from receipt of the notice.

The notice referred to will be issued by the supervisor of the IVA, and is sent to the Insolvency Practitioner Unit (IPU) in Birmingham for updating the EIIR.  In case of doubt as to whether an IVA is still current, staff should make enquiries with IPU to see if the supervisor has issued the appropriate notice, and if not, the enquirer should be referred to the supervisor of the arrangement.

81A.37  Written enquiries/complaints about the public register (EIIR)

On receipt of a non-verbal inquiry in respect of individuals whose details do not appear on the EIIR, consideration must be given to the inquirer’s interest in the case. Inquiries from known creditors, or from a person claiming to be a creditor who provides clear evidence of  his or her claim, can be answered. All other types of inquiry must be referred to line management to decide if the inquirer has a legitimate interest entitling him or her to the information requested. In cases of doubt Technical Section should be consulted.

81A.37A – Complaints about details from the EIIR appearing on search engines

(December 2010)

1) Cases where details are still live on the EIIR - It is not the policy of The Insolvency Service that any restriction should be put in place to limit public access to the information contained in the register.

2) Cases where details have been removed from the EIIR but may still be found by search engines - Details of cases appearing in search engines are the result of information held on the search engine’s computers. The Service has no control over how search engines such as Google search, index, store and display their results, or the uses (or abuses) to which third parties put the information. Complainants should be referred to the search engine holding the information.

In all cases of complaints arising from 1) and 2) above should be referred to Technical Section.

81A.38  Telephone enquiries relating to companies in liquidation

Information held on The Service’s internal computer systems about companies can be revealed to telephone callers. This does not extend to providing personal details of directors (e.g. their addresses) and if the winding-up order was made more than five years ago it is advisable to supply no information about the directors over the telephone.

Requests for such details should be referred to Companies House, which will have information on files available for search. Alternatively, a written request can be made to the official receiver. Consideration should then be given to the provisions of the DPA as to whether there are good grounds for releasing the information to the inquirer.

81A.39  Subject access requests from third parties

The official receiver may receive subject access requests from individuals who have had dealings with an insolvent and who believe that their personal data may be held in records kept by the insolvent. If this happens, the official receiver should follow the same procedure as outlined in paragraph 81A.31 above.

[Back to Part 2 – Subject access requests] [On to Part 4 – Handling personal data]