Fee protection schemes for accountancy firms
The problem schemes solve
Every practice knows the shape of it. HMRC opens an enquiry into a client. The work of responding is substantial, skilled and open-ended — and the client, already anxious, did not budget for it. The practice then faces a bad menu: bill the work fully and strain the relationship, under-bill and absorb the cost, or under-defend and let the client take a worse outcome than they should. Fee protection removes the menu. The fees are insured, the defence is funded, and the practice does the work it is best placed to do — for the client it already knows — without the fee conversation poisoning the file.
Why firms run schemes
Fee recovery. Enquiry work under a scheme is paid work, at proper rates, rather than a negotiation or a write-off. Over a client base of any size, that is a material difference to recovered time.
Client retention. A client who watches their accountant defend an enquiry vigorously, at no unbudgeted cost to themselves, is a client who stays. The scheme also gives the practice a concrete, annual touchpoint with every client — a reason to talk that is not a deadline.
Consultancy income. Practices running schemes typically find the protected base generates more advisory conversations, not fewer: clients ring earlier, because the call does not feel like a taxi meter starting. Enquiry defence itself is also work many practitioners find professionally satisfying when it is properly resourced — which, insured, it is.
Whole-base coverage rather than adverse selection. A scheme offered across the client base means protection is in place before anyone knows who HMRC will pick — which is the only time insurance can honestly be bought.
How the Solar Protect scheme route works
Solar Protect provides tax fee protection both direct to businesses and individuals online, and through schemes run with accountancy practices. The underlying cover is the substance: up to £100,000 of accountants’ fees per the policy terms, no excess, with Corporation Tax and Income Tax full and aspect enquiries, PAYE/NIC compliance checks and disputes, IR35/Employment Status/CIS enquiries and disputes, VAT compliance checks and disputes, Schedule 36 record checks and inspections, Section 60/61 VAT Act 1994 and Code of Practice 8 matters (no dishonesty or fraud), IHT and probate return enquiries, SDLT, NMW/NLW, Child Tax Credit, Student Loan and Gift Aid enquiries, and Companies House confirmation statement enquiries among the insured events — with clients represented by their own accountant. Crucially for a practice, “their own accountant” means you: the scheme funds your firm’s defence work for your clients. To discuss a scheme for your practice, start at Solar Protect or call us on 0117 325 0027 — Solar is part of the same group as Apex.
What to look at before adopting any scheme
Whichever provider a practice considers, the diligence points are the same: the breadth of insured events against the enquiries your client base actually attracts; the limit and any excess; whether the client must use a panel firm or stays with the practice; how consultancy support works during difficult enquiries; and how the scheme is administered year to year. A scheme is a multi-year relationship, not a commodity purchase — treat the decision accordingly.
The natural pairing: your own firm’s PI
Fee protection insures your clients’ defence costs. It does nothing for the other professional risk in the building: claims against the practice itself. Apex arranges professional indemnity for accountancy firms — it is one of our core specialisms — and a practice reviewing its client proposition around fee protection is usually well served by reviewing its own PI at the same time. Start with our accountants’ PI insurance guide and our page on how much PI costs for accountants, or call 0117 325 0027.
Frequently asked questions
How does a fee protection scheme differ from clients buying cover individually?
The cover protects the client either way. A scheme puts protection in place across the client base through the practice, so defence funding exists before anyone knows which client HMRC will select — and the practice, rather than a panel firm, does the defence work.
Do scheme clients have to use an insurer-appointed firm?
Under the Solar Protect cover, clients use their own accountant — the practice that runs the scheme. That is the commercial point of the scheme for the firm: enquiry defence stays with you and is paid for.
What does the underlying cover include?
Up to £100,000 of accountants' fees with no excess, covering Corporation Tax and Income Tax full and aspect enquiries, PAYE/NIC, IR35/Employment Status/CIS, VAT checks and disputes, Schedule 36 inspections, Section 60/61 and Code of Practice 8 matters where there is no dishonesty or fraud, IHT/probate, SDLT, NMW/NLW and related enquiries. The policy wording governs the detail.
Is running a scheme worthwhile for a small practice?
The mechanics scale down: fee recovery on enquiry work, a client-retention touchpoint and funded defence matter to a three-partner firm as much as a thirty-partner one. Whether the numbers work for your base is a conversation to have directly — talk to Solar Protect or call Apex.
Does fee protection replace our firm's professional indemnity insurance?
No — they are unrelated covers. Fee protection funds your clients' enquiry defence fees; PI protects the practice against claims that its own work caused a client loss. A practice needs its PI regardless of any scheme.
Solar Protect is a trading style of Solar Insurance Services (Medway) Limited, authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FRN 459582), and is part of the same group as Apex Insurance Brokers.
Apex Insurance Brokers Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FRN 724952). This page is general information, not advice on a specific policy.