HMRC fines and penalties insurance

[psychocandy]

Put a Stop to HMRC Fines & Penalties - Contractor Weekly

Am I missing something here?

I can see the possibility that it might save you a few quid if you do genuinely forget to the pay your CT but seriously? As for PAYE, most of us are on pretty low salaries anyway so if you forget 1-3 times its only 1% of lost income anyway. If you forget more than 3 times you need a good kicking.

Also, the example given that you have to pay double CT. This is only if your CT failure is deliberate and concealed. Hang on now - so you break the law, get caught and this insurance bails you out? Doesn't seem right to me.

[northernladuk]

I have given up reading this rubbish. They are not genuine articles that are unbiasedly writing about stuff that is of interest to contractors. It is all just advertising now with no thought or regard how it might affect us and the pro's and cons. Utter rubbish and very misleading.

E.g.

numerous contractors and self-employed professionals every year succumbing to potentially devastating fines and penalties for late payments from HMRC.

Utter tosh and scaremongering.

[psychocandy]

Like the 'succumbing to devastating fines' crap.

i.e If you screw it up or try to fiddle the system.....

Still think its not right that you can insure against getting caught when you make a blatant attempt to fiddle the system.

(although I guess HMRC might say that about IR35 fines insurance!)

[Alan @ BroomeAffinity]

This is the same mob from this thread:
http://forums.contractoruk.com/accou...allegedly.html

[northernladuk]

This is the same mob from this thread:
http://forums.contractoruk.com/accou...allegedly.html

I wonder if Joanna at UCF is going to say...

We appreciate that this type of finance isn't for everybody, but we have many clients who do find all of our services very helpful.

This time it is people who are scamming their CT and want cover when they get caught. What a nice customer base to be looking for.

[JoannaUCF]

‘Am I missing something here?’ – I’m afraid so, yes! ☺ This isn’t insurance, it’s finance, plain and simple.

Unity Contract Finance only provides finance, and only to freelance contractors. We aren’t providers of insurance, other than via our partners.

It’s difficult to talk about this without sounding too ‘salesy’, but I’ll give it a go.

The owner of Unity Contract Finance was a contractor for almost 40 years. He wanted to set up a company that gave access to products and services that have in recent years been denied to people like him by the banks. Being such a new company, and having no competitors, is sometimes a challenge, as it can attract distrust and cynicism. However, we remain determined to provide the services that our clients ask us for. This is where the HMRC fines and penalties came from…(bear with me on this one!)

Until December we only gave cash to the value of timesheets, an alternative in monetary terms to an overdraft. In response to requests for larger, ‘lump sums’ of cash, we adapted what we did to offer exactly that to address this specific problem. It’s clearly preferable for contractors to hold money in reserve for liabilities, however there are lots of reasons why that might not have happened and I don’t know that it’s up to us to judge.

Maybe it’s me that’s missing something…if there is some form of finance that you think would be better, you can always call me… ☺

[RasputinDude]

‘Am I missing something here?’ – I’m afraid so, yes! ☺ This isn’t insurance, it’s finance, plain and simple.

Unity Contract Finance only provides finance, and only to freelance contractors. We aren’t providers of insurance, other than via our partners.

It’s difficult to talk about this without sounding too ‘salesy’, but I’ll give it a go.

The owner of Unity Contract Finance was a contractor for almost 40 years. He wanted to set up a company that gave access to products and services that have in recent years been denied to people like him by the banks. Being such a new company, and having no competitors, is sometimes a challenge, as it can attract distrust and cynicism. However, we remain determined to provide the services that our clients ask us for. This is where the HMRC fines and penalties came from…(bear with me on this one!)

Until December we only gave cash to the value of timesheets, an alternative in monetary terms to an overdraft. In response to requests for larger, ‘lump sums’ of cash, we adapted what we did to offer exactly that to address this specific problem. It’s clearly preferable for contractors to hold money in reserve for liabilities, however there are lots of reasons why that might not have happened and I don’t know that it’s up to us to judge.

Maybe it’s me that’s missing something…if there is some form of finance that you think would be better, you can always call me… ☺

So UCF is basically a timesheet factoring company.

[psychocandy]

Joanna - Im confused. I might be wrong but I understood that this product will pay the fines imposed by HMRC if your late with CT or PAYE payments. Is this correct?

As the advert states, its 30% if you forget. Admitedly, its a few quid possibly, so if you want to insure against 'forgetting' then fair enough.

But the example given was 100% where, in effect, you are caught deliberately attempting to mislead. Surely this can't be right?

Its like offering 'car theft insurance'. If you get caught, insurance will pay to bail you out.

Surely, this sort of thing encourages people to 'try it on' and see if they can get away with it knowing that even if they get caught there are no consequences?

[northernladuk]

And to put a different spin, if they are insuring against fraudulent practices the cost of the insurance isn't claimable against tax I believe.

[RasputinDude]

And to put a different spin, if they are insuring against fraudulent practices the cost of the insurance isn't claimable against tax I believe.

I was under the impression that you can't insure against the results of conducting fraudulent practices as you can't insure insure yourself for doing something illegal.