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Complaints against members
The CII takes all complaints seriously and, where these occur, follows the same rules as its disciplinary cases, including possible sanctions, appeal procedures and publication.
Background procedure
The sanctions available, under the CII Disciplinary Scheme, apply to Members of the CII and some non-Members (for example, examination entrants) who have agreed to be bound by the Laws of the CII (defined as the Charter, Bye-laws, Regulations, Codes and other requirements of the CII).
All CII Members agree to uphold professional standards when they join the CII. The CII’s Code of Ethics explains the principles which Members are expected to follow.
Non-Members taking CII examinations or assessments are also obliged to adhere to the rules set out for those services.
As the CII is committed to professionalism, misconduct is viewed very seriously because it reflects badly on the Institute and its Membership. Sanctions handed down by the Disciplinary Committee or the CII can be found here.
The CII considers each complaint on its own facts before deciding whether to investigate it further. If the CII cannot take a complaint forward, this will usually be because it is not practical or justified to do so. The CII’s internal policies prevent it from investigating complaints where more than 12 months have passed since the relevant events took place, or since the complainant became aware, or should reasonably have become aware, of those events. Other examples of complaints which are unlikely to be taken forward are:
- The Member cannot be identified.
- The complaint appears to have been made mainly to cause annoyance or embarrassment, or is vexatious or frivolous.
- There is insufficient evidence available.
- The complaint should be dealt with by a regulator, such as the Financial Conduct Authority or the Financial Ombudsman Service in the UK, or by the courts.
If the CII cannot investigate your complaint, we will write to you to explain why, and where possible, advise of an alternative route of complaint.
How to make a complaint
To make a complaint complete the Complaints against Members form (PDF), you can then email it to complaintsagainstciiMembers@cii.co.uk or post to: Legal Department, Chartered Insurance Institute, 1st Floor, 30 Old Broad Street, London, EC2N 1HT
Please note that:
- The CII cannot award financial compensation or any other financial payment to a complainant. If you are seeking financial redress, you should contact the relevant regulator and/or consider making a claim against the other party’s professional indemnity insurance, where appropriate.
- Making a complaint against a CII Member is not a substitute for taking legal action where appropriate.
- If the complaint is before the courts, or is likely to be before the courts, the CII will pause its complaint process until the court proceedings have been resolved. If the court does not find that the Member acted inappropriately, the CII may not be able to progress the complaint.
- If another professional body, regulator or tribunal is investigating the complaint, the CII will pause its complaint process until those proceedings have been resolved.
- Not every error by a Member will amount to a breach of the Code of Ethics or lead to disciplinary action. Disciplinary action may be appropriate where there are repeated or significant volume of errors that indicate a possible lack of professional competence.
- If a Member gave advice which, in hindsight, turns out to have been flawed, and you suffered loss as a result, this may be a matter for the Member’s or their firm’s professional indemnity insurers and you may need to seek legal advice.
- The CII cannot investigate disputes about an insurance company’s decision on an insurance claim.
- Before the CII can consider your complaint, the Member should usually have had an opportunity to resolve the matter through their own internal complaints procedure where appropriate. If you have not given the Member that opportunity to rectify the issues, please explain why when you submit your complaint.
The CII is not the appropriate forum to make technical determinations about any advice given or the outcome of an insurance claim. These are matters for the courts or the appropriate regulator.
Investigation and disciplinary process
An acknowledgement will be sent to you within 10 business days of the CII receiving your complaint.
Please refer to the relevant page below for more information.
For complaints registered with the CII before February 2020.
For complaints registered with the CII from 1 February 2020.
Information regarding the process for disciplinary hearings.
Because complaints can differ in nature and complexity, the CII cannot give a fixed timescale for completing its complaint process. The CII must investigate complaints thoroughly and follow all relevant lines of enquiry. This helps ensure that the process is fair to the complainant, the respondent and the CII’s stakeholders.