What insurance has everybody got?

[malvolio]

Most tax loss insurances (the ones that cover your liabilities etc) generally cover the representation etc as well. Having both seems a waste of money if you just have membership for that purpose (though I'm sure that's not the case). Just be aware that if your tax loss insurance does cover representation as well, it is unlikely (and certainly not if it is ours) that you would be able to seek representation from PCG and then get the liabilities covered by the other insurance. You will have to do it all in one place.
The tax loss insurers (again I can say definitely for ourselves) would have no problem paying out for your liabilities if they had defended you and lost the case (ps. never happened to us yet ) but if you had gone somewhere else and THEY had lost the case, I think it's fairly obvious that the tax loss insurers aren't going to pay for the consequences.

Just wanted to make sure you were aware of that in case you ever did receive a letter *touch wood you don't*

Agree with all of that. The PCG-sourced equivalent is obviously tied to PCG membership and avoids the problem in the same way that QDOS does, by keeping everything under one roof.

[psychocandy]

Agree with Mal - IR35 cover is a no brainer and PCG plus is pretty good.

This is what I have. Of course, you can pay extra with them for coverage even if you lose, but it gets complicated. Also, QDOS do a decent package also (completely different to PCG).

If you don't bother with either, you're stupid.

Actually, what am I saying, don't bother. The more people with zero coverage, the more easy targets for HMRC to pick on and leave me alone.

[Cupid Stunt]

PI, PL & TLC35 from Qdos, I even managed to haggle a discount on renewal with them this year....

[saptastic]

Tax / IR35 liability cover with Qdos - well worth it for peace of mind.
But never heard of anyone claiming it.

[Wanderer]

Actually there are a couple of large insurers who will not automatically cover your office contents if you do not tell them. Some of your office contents will be in your business' name not yours.

Ahh, if they are business assets then I wouldn't have expected them to be covered under my personal home contents policy anyway. Interesting to hear that some policies may actually cover work assets. Of course, the director could have just brought the laptop off the company a few days before it got stolen so maybe it was their personal property after all....

it and seems to be common now to reduce the prices by reducing the cover so it is absolutely essential, now more than ever, to read the fine print. We got caught out using the comparison sites trying to get a like for like insurance which we thought we had done until the fine print came. The old one had items away from home included. The new one had it as an option you had to tick that put the price up above what the comparison site said. We had to know our old insurance inside out to know we had it and read every line in the new one to know we had to tick it... which we didn't until we needed it. Twats.

Hell yes. Drives me up the bloody wall the way they do this sort of confusion marketing crap.

[SueEllen]

Ahh, if they are business assets then I wouldn't have expected them to be covered under my personal home contents policy anyway. Interesting to hear that some policies may actually cover work assets. Of course, the director could have just brought the laptop off the company a few days before it got stolen so maybe it was their personal property after all....

Insurers want to see proof of ownership.

[Freelancer Financials]

You need both business and personal insurance. Qdos provide a full range of business products, such as PII, TLC35 and contract reviews. They're a decent bunch of people as well.

With regards to personal insurance, you should consider:

Income Protection Cover (not to be confused with accident and sickness cover), Critical Illness Cover and Life Cover. These can be purchased online, but make sure you do your homework first, especially if your considering Critical illness, as the policies from different providers vary.

Alternatively, you can source these products through an adviser. If you're looking at Life insurance only and operate through a LTD, you should consider a Relevant Life Policy as it is generally more tax efficient.

Always shop around and read the small print.

[Daventry]

I'm looking to signing for IR35 insurance too.

Please correct me if I'm wrong, but it looks like the main difference between QDos TLC35 and PCG Plus is that the first one will cover for additional tax and fines if you're caught by IR35 whereas PCG will just cover the costs of dealing with an investigation.

BTW this is my first contract as an Ltd company after 2 years working through an umbrella. Was reviewed by QDos, they pointed out a couple of concerns and the client agreed to make such changes. Would you still sign up for IR35 insurance?

[psychocandy]

I'm looking to signing for IR35 insurance too.

Please correct me if I'm wrong, but it looks like the main difference between QDos TLC35 and PCG Plus is that the first one will cover for additional tax and fines if you're caught by IR35 whereas PCG will just cover the costs of dealing with an investigation.

BTW this is my first contract as an Ltd company after 2 years working through an umbrella. Was reviewed by QDos, they pointed out a couple of concerns and the client agreed to make such changes. Would you still sign up for IR35 insurance?

Yes. That is the difference between TLC35 and PCG plus. BUT with PCG you can pay extra to be covered same as TLC35.

But, they are structured a bit differently. TLC35 you pay for the coverage at the time (i.e. if you're paying and get investigated you're covered) Thus if you ever stop contracting you need to keep paying because they mihgt come looking years later.

The abbey tax extra bit with PCG is different. You pay to be covered for the contract and then have to pay fees for every new one, every 6 months for extensions etc.

One thing though. You can't hand it to PCG if you get investigated, then if they lose expect QDOS to cough up if you've got that as well. Its got to be them from the start.

[malvolio]

I'm looking to signing for IR35 insurance too.

Please correct me if I'm wrong, but it looks like the main difference between QDos TLC35 and PCG Plus is that the first one will cover for additional tax and fines if you're caught by IR35 whereas PCG will just cover the costs of dealing with an investigation.

BTW this is my first contract as an Ltd company after 2 years working through an umbrella. Was reviewed by QDos, they pointed out a couple of concerns and the client agreed to make such changes. Would you still sign up for IR35 insurance?

PCG membership isn't just about insurance though...

That aside, as I've said many times, if someone accepts the risk that they will cover you for a potential 6-figure tax bill for a fee of a couple of hundred quid, you can be certain that they are pretty damned sure they won't ever have to pay it out.