FN-FORUM: News release: PCG appoints new insurers for members' tax investigation cover

date posted 12th January 2004 20:58

Information only for those of you who are interested ....

Regards
=20
Lindsay


For immediate release: Monday 12 January 2004

---BEGINS---=20

The Professional Contractors Group (PCG) has announced the appointment =
of
Brit Insurance Limited as providers of tax investigation insurance to =
its
members from 1 January 2004. Abbey Tax Protection Limited (ATP) will be
acting as claims handlers, with Lawspeed engaged for its IR35 and legal
expertise to deal with any relevant disputes. This arrangement replaces =
the
policy previously provided with National Insurance and Guarantee =
Corporation
Ltd (NIG) via Universal Legal Protection Ltd (ULP), and claims handling
provided by Qdos Consulting.

The new bundled policy is now called Professional Expenses Insurance =
(PEI)
rather than Tax Investigation Insurance (TII), and it is more =
comprehensive
than the previous cover. For example, the limit of cover on any one =
claim
has been increased from =A350,000 to =A375,000. PCG has over 11,000 =
members, all
of whom benefit from PEI as part of their membership package at no extra
cost. This covers them for professional fees relating to any tax
investigation including those on IR35, S660, PAYE and VAT.

Commenting upon the announcement, PCG chairman Simon Griffiths said, =
=93As
part of our commitment to undertake regular reviews of our commercial
activities, we spent three months negotiating with a variety of =
providers.
Key selection criteria were quality of service, rating of the insurer, =
track
record of the claims handler in providing IR35 and S660 advice, price, =
and
the potential to build a long-term relationship. A major factor was =
that
following a recent change of ownership, NIG had decided not to accept =
any
new policies in the special risks area, so we had to change providers. =
We
are confident that the Abbey Tax and Lawspeed will provide a competent
service to our members, and will maintain their superb record in winning
cases.

=93We would like to reiterate our thanks to Qdos Consulting,=94 =
Griffiths
continued, =93for the excellent service that that it has provided =
members over
the past few years, and that it will no doubt continue to provide for
outstanding cases.=94

Paul Mason of ATP highlighted the importance of having insurance cover,
saying, =93Our claims analysis statistics show that of Self Assessment =
Returns
taken up for full enquiry by the Inland Revenue, 51% were in the service
sector, and over 34% had annual turnovers of less than =A350,000. =
Insured
clients are nearly five times more likely to escape additional tax than
businesses which do not have the benefit of Professional Expenses
Insurance.=94

Managing director of Lawspeed, Adrian Marlowe, said, =93We are delighted =
to be
working with PCG and its claims handler, Abbey Tax, to provide our IR35 =
and
S660 expertise to PCG members. In delivering this important service, our =
aim
is to provide the best possible results and maximum success.=94