Can I complain?

Your complaint may help us spot a trend that shows lots of people have the same issue. We can use the important information we get from your complaint to help us address the wider problem and do something about it.

The action we take could lead to a change in the way things are done, which may result in your situation being resolved by the relevant public body.

Although we would not resolve the individual complaints reported to us, they are vital in helping us find wider problems so we can help protect others from experiencing the same issues.

You should still complain in the normal ways to find a resolution to your problem.

You can report a complaint if:

• you are an EU or EEA EFTA citizen, or a family member of such citizens (including family members from outside the EU or EEA EFTA states).
• you believe one of your rights has been breached

If you do not meet these criteria but you have an issue you want to report, we still want to hear from you. You can contact us to report the issue.

As a citizen of an EU or EEA EFTA country (Iceland, Liechtenstein or Norway), or their family members, your rights are protected by the EU Withdrawal Agreement or the EEA EFTA Separation Agreement.

These rights include:

• your ability to live and work in the UK
• having qualifications you gained in an EU or EEA EFTA country recognised in the UK
• your ability to access housing, healthcare, education and benefits
• being treated equally to UK citizens

If you would like to see what other EU and EEA EFTA citizens have complained about, we publish all of our complaints data.

See here our 1 January 2021 – 31 July 2021 data (PDF, 373Kb).

See here our 1 January 2021 – 31 December 2021 data (PDF, 249Kb)

The IMA will consider any complaints where the treatment of an EU or EEA EFTA citizen, or their family member, by a UK public body falls short of the UK’s commitments.

A public body is any organisation or institution that provides a public service. Examples of this include councils, hospitals, job centres, schools and police stations.

We are not able to act upon complaints which are about a private company or organisation. If you are in this situation you should still complain in the usual ways to find a resolution to your problem. Have a look at our list of useful organisations to see if they could help.

Start by making sure that the IMA is the right place for your complaint; have a look at the checklist below.

1. Are your rights protected in the EU Withdrawal Agreement or EEA EFTA Separation Agreement?
2. Have you had a rights issue with a UK public body?
3. Do you understand that the IMA cannot directly resolve your issue or overturn individual decisions already made?

If you answered yes to all those questions, it sounds like the IMA is the right place to report your complaint.

Although we can take action against public bodies that have not protected citizens’ rights, we will not resolve individual cases. If you have an issue that needs resolving, you should complain directly to the organisation you are having a problem with.

We do still want to hear from you, though. You can report the issue to the IMA at the same time, but we will not resolve your case for you.