Reply to: Insurance Budget

[malvolio]

Hiscox do not back Qdos, or any other key player in the contractor insurance market (to the best of my knowledge). Qdos' PI and ELPL policies are underwritten by HCC International. HCC do have a Lloyd's arm, but our policies are written by their company arm.

Whilst there are inevitably differences between the policies provided by different providers, generally speaking PI and ELPL providers have pretty homogenised wordings compared to other lines of business. More likely reasons for pricing differences are profit margins and overheads - who do you think pays for Hiscox's (very impressive) advertising campaigns?

Fair enough, thanks for the clarification.

[Qdos Contractor]

For reference my full fat PI/PLI/EI is a shade under £400 a year, or £35 a month.

Nothing wrong with QDOS of course, but this always worries me slightly. The risk being covered is the same, one assumes, and will be backed off to the same providers (often Hiscox themselves) and in turn back to Lloyds. So if the risk is the same the insurance cost should be in the same ball park, less some small degree of bulk purchase which won't equate to the difference being quoted.

So what isn't being covered...?

Hiscox do not back Qdos, or any other key player in the contractor insurance market (to the best of my knowledge). Qdos' PI and ELPL policies are underwritten by HCC International. HCC do have a Lloyd's arm, but our policies are written by their company arm.

Whilst there are inevitably differences between the policies provided by different providers, generally speaking PI and ELPL providers have pretty homogenised wordings compared to other lines of business. More likely reasons for pricing differences are profit margins and overheads - who do you think pays for Hiscox's (very impressive) advertising campaigns?

[TheFaQQer]

We worked with Kingsbridge to mirror a package for our contractors https://sthree.kpsol.co.uk/ [Feel free to snip mods if I have broken any rules]

The other notable players in this field are QDOS, Hiscox and Caunce O'Hara

The downside is that you have to go through SThree for that

[Andy Hallett]

We worked with Kingsbridge to mirror a package for our contractors -The other notable players in this field are QDOS, Hiscox and Caunce O'Hara

[malvolio]

What I found with the difference insurance providers is the cover is the same due to using the same underwriter but the excess varies. Policies with no or very low excess are more expensive than those with a larger excess. Similar to car insurance....

So nothing to do with varying exclusions then? A careful comparison of ostensibly same-cover policies does reveal some interesting variations in what is in and out of scope...

[SueEllen]

For reference my full fat PI/PLI/EI is a shade under £400 a year, or £35 a month.

Nothing wrong with QDOS of course, but this always worries me slightly. The risk being covered is the same, one assumes, and will be backed off to the same providers (often Hiscox themselves) and in turn back to Lloyds. So if the risk is the same the insurance cost should be in the same ball park, less some small degree of bulk purchase which won't equate to the difference being quoted.

So what isn't being covered...?

What I found with the difference insurance providers is the cover is the same due to using the same underwriter but the excess varies. Policies with no or very low excess are more expensive than those with a larger excess. Similar to car insurance....

[TheFaQQer]

Mal, Don't IPSE sell insurance?

I think I might have read something that implied that in the past.

They provide insurance, but they don't sell it.

[TheFaQQer]

For reference my full fat PI/PLI/EI is a shade under £400 a year, or £35 a month.

Nothing wrong with QDOS of course, but this always worries me slightly. The risk being covered is the same, one assumes, and will be backed off to the same providers (often Hiscox themselves) and in turn back to Lloyds. So if the risk is the same the insurance cost should be in the same ball park, less some small degree of bulk purchase which won't equate to the difference being quoted.

So what isn't being covered...?

My car insurance this year was £479 on renewal and £300 to change. But on your theory they should be the same kind of ballpark because the risk is the same. The cover is the same, it's just that Aviva wanted that extra £179 themselves.

[northernladuk]

Mal, Don't IPSE sell insurance?

[malvolio]

Qdos are quoting £19.98 p/month for the same cover and IR35 Reviews for an extract £99 p/year - that seems a big difference to me - what sort of reputation does Qdos have?

For reference my full fat PI/PLI/EI is a shade under £400 a year, or £35 a month.

Nothing wrong with QDOS of course, but this always worries me slightly. The risk being covered is the same, one assumes, and will be backed off to the same providers (often Hiscox themselves) and in turn back to Lloyds. So if the risk is the same the insurance cost should be in the same ball park, less some small degree of bulk purchase which won't equate to the difference being quoted.

So what isn't being covered...?

[northernladuk]

Qdos are quoting £19.98 p/month for the same cover and IR35 Reviews for an extract £99 p/year - that seems a big difference to me - what sort of reputation does Qdos have?

If you take PI/PL out with QDOS you get three free contract checks a year.

QDOS are contract specialists and I would expect are one of the, if not the biggest player in this area. I've got PI/PL through them as well as TLC35 and use them for my contract reviews. They are as solid as they come so come highly recommended.

Many accountants offer these service but personally I am much happier with specialists handling each of their areas. Accountants do my accounts, contract specialists do my contract checks and so on. Am sure the offering of these bundled things are probably adequate but it doesn't sit right with me. If QDOS started offering accountancy services I certainly wouldn't be going there just because the are the best contract people. That's just my opinion. We are talking 10's of pounds per month here. It just isn't worth scrimping on IMO. One thing you shouldn't really be judging an accountant on is price (within reason).

[SueEllen]

Qdos are quoting £19.98 p/month for the same cover and IR35 Reviews for an extract £99 p/year - that seems a big difference to me - what sort of reputation does Qdos have?

I don't think you will find many people who have claimed on their PI insurance. Just ensure your contracts are reviewed properly for all clauses as that decreases the likelihood of you ever claiming.

I also suggest you read the small print of the insurance policies e.g. check the excess, what they coverm then decide.

[ocs]

I have checked the contract more closely and it just cites 'Adequate' as the level of cover.

Hiscox quoted £38 p/month - I am going to try and get some more quotes this evening.

Qdos are quoting £19.98 p/month for the same cover and IR35 Reviews for an extract £99 p/year - that seems a big difference to me - what sort of reputation does Qdos have?

[ocs]

I have checked the contract more closely and it just cites 'Adequate' as the level of cover.

Hiscox quoted £38 p/month - I am going to try and get some more quotes this evening.

[northernladuk]

LOL... So.. Their basic package is £69 per month without insurance. Premier package is £99 a month with insurance.. BUT the insurance is an option extra of £30 on top of the £69 which makes.... £99!!!! What a crock that is lol...

Bearing in mind we have a thread showing that £30 a month is expensive why the hell would you split two packages out that are the same? What's the point in that?

It also mentions IR35 check as part of the Premier package but the comparison page shows it's with both. Lot of inconsistencies there. Hope that only goes as far as their web page

The stars don't make any sense either. As soon as I saw them I though 'Aye aye, some gotcha here' but it just references a comment in the pricing saying it's included. Very strange.

Apart from all that seems to be a pretty straightforward contractor friendly one stop shop. Am sure there service is OK but it's not for me. Rather pay a bit more and get the experts to do mine IR35 checks and insurance. Just my opinion anyway.