Anyone Had To Claim On The QDOS Tax Insurance Policy?

**malvolio** · 10 February 2012, 17:57

Originally posted by DeludedAussie View Post

Has anyone actually made a claim on this policy and what did the insurer actually pay out?

I am trying to understand whether it is worthwhile

Of course it's worthwhile, as is PCG membership, and for the same reason. You're spending a hundred or so quid to protect against a potetnial tax liability ov several thousands plus legal fees of at least five grand.

If you're actually asking is insurance against the tax bill and penalties worthwhile, I've been saying for several years that IMHO it isn't. If there was significant risk of it being paid out, the premium would be a lot higher. But that's just me, YMMV...

**psychocandy** · 13 February 2012, 10:23

Yeh, I heard that no-one has ever lost an IR35 that has been insured by the PCG. Is this correct?

**malvolio** · 13 February 2012, 10:30

Originally posted by psychocandy View Post

Yeh, I heard that no-one has ever lost an IR35 that has been insured by the PCG. Is this correct?

Not recently. Some of the early cases went the wrong way but what they had in common was that the expert help wasn't called in from the beginning. Since the appeal/tribunal process can only rules on points of law, not points of evidence, they were kind of screwed before they really got going. Dragonfly was supported by PCG as I recall, but that was a bit of a one-off anyway. Nevertheless, 6 out of 1450-oddd isn't a bad average, plus many of the PCG-supported cases get dropped before they get anywhere.

I believe QDOS have a similar hit rate. The lesson is to leave it to the professionals, however they are funded, and use professionals who understand the whole picture.

**psychocandy** · 13 February 2012, 10:43

Agree with what you said earlier. Not having anything in place be it either PCG membership or QDOS is just nuts.....

**JoJoGabor** · 13 February 2012, 10:56

The thing that put me off with the QDOS insurance was the way that you had to confirm that you were outside of IR35 by answering a few simple questions, eg "Are you out of control of your client" and "Can you provide a substitute?"

My view on most insurnace is they will squirm to get out of a payment wherever possible, so these somewhat subjective questions could be used against you not only for IR35 testing, but then also for an insurance payout.

i preferred the PCG insurance as they were only offering legal representation.

Anyone Had To Claim On The QDOS Tax Insurance Policy?