Complaint types — complaint vs appeal kinds, governing authority, filing window, grounds, and dispositions

Last updated: July 12, 2026 by Steve

Complaint Types

Complaint types are the categories a complaint or appeal is registered under, and each one carries the rules that shape the whole record. A type sets the kind (complaint or appeal), the governing authority (the regulator office), the filing-window rule used for the admissibility check, the grounds catalogue offered at intake, and the disposition vocabulary offered at closure.

Complaint Types (screenshot placeholder — capture: the Complaint types list with a type selected showing its kind, regulator, and filing window)

Where to Find It

Open Settings from the app toolbar and choose Complaint types in the Privacy configuration group. This group is visible only to users who hold the relevant privacy configure permission.

Options and Fields

Field What it controls
Name The type's label, translatable across your active languages.
Kind Complaint or Appeal. Each option is tagged accordingly at intake, and an appeal-kind type flips the panel wording (for example the title and received-date labels).
Governing authority / regulator The oversight body the matter sits with. Shown read-only beneath the type at intake.
Default intake origin The suggested origin — Regulator investigation or Direct to institution. Staff can override it; the origin decides whether the record later passes through a Submitted stage.
Filing-window rule The window used to compute the admissibility deadline and the advisory "in time" hint.
Grounds catalogue The list of subject-matter grounds a registrant can pick from.
Disposition vocabulary The set of outcomes available at closure (for example well-founded, not well-founded, resolved).

How It Affects Complaints

  • The type is the first, required choice at intake and drives everything below it, including the read-only regulator / governing authority.
  • Choosing an appeal-kind type flips the wording throughout the panel; the workflow itself is identical.
  • If the type defines a filing window, an admissibility hint banner tells the registrant whether the matter is in time against the computed deadline. It is advisory and never blocks registration.
  • If the type has a grounds catalogue, the registrant selects a ground at intake.
  • At closure, the Close dialog offers the disposition from the type's disposition vocabulary.

Best Practice

Define separate types for each regulator and for the complaint-versus-appeal distinction, so the correct governing authority, filing window, grounds, and dispositions all attach automatically the moment staff pick the type at intake.