When choosing a fee protection scheme provider, compare the cover itself first: the limit, which HMRC checks are included, the exclusions, any excess, and whether your clients keep you as their accountant. Then compare the service: how clients are added and removed, what marketing and administration help you get, how claims are handled, and how the scheme is structured from a regulatory point of view.

What should the cover include?

  • Limit of indemnity. The most the policy pays per claim and in total. Solar Protect cover pays up to £100,000 of professional fees.
  • Types of check. Full and aspect enquiries into Income Tax and Corporation Tax returns, PAYE and National Insurance checks, VAT checks, IR35 and employment status disputes, Construction Industry Scheme checks and Code of Practice 8 investigations are all worth confirming.
  • Directors and partners. Whether their personal returns are covered alongside the business.
  • Appeals. Whether fees for statutory review and tribunal appeals are included. See statutory review and the tax tribunal.
  • Excess. Whether clients pay the first part of any claim. Solar Protect cover has no excess.

Which exclusions should you check?

All fee protection excludes tax, interest and penalties. Beyond that, read how the wording treats checks that started before cover, deliberate behaviour and fraud, voluntary disclosures, and enquiries arising from tax avoidance schemes. Our guide to what tax investigation insurance does not cover lists the usual exclusions.

How are your fees paid?

  • whether the policy pays your normal charge out rates or limits the rate it will pay;
  • when costs need the insurer’s agreement;
  • whether clients can keep you as their accountant rather than being moved to a panel firm.

What service should the provider give?

  • an online portal to add and remove clients through the year;
  • help with client letters, mailings and premium collection;
  • the option for clients to pay monthly;
  • a clear claims process and experienced claims handlers;
  • advice lines your clients can use.

Solar Protect schemes include each of these. See how our accountant schemes work.

How is the scheme structured?

Ask who is insured, the practice or its clients, because that decides whether your practice is carrying on a regulated activity and which route it needs. ICAEW members can use their DPB licence; bookkeepers cannot. See how to run a fee protection scheme and fee protection for bookkeepers. Also ask how commission or other remuneration is paid, so you can meet your body’s disclosure rules.

What happens if a claim is disputed?

Insurers must handle claims promptly and fairly and must not unreasonably reject a claim, under the FCA’s ICOBS 8.1.1R. Smaller businesses may be able to take an unresolved complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service. Our guide to the fee protection claims process covers notifying claims and what to do if one is declined.

Reviewed by Christine Anderson, Broker, Solar Protect. Last reviewed 7 October 2026. This guide is general information, not legal, regulatory or insurance advice. Always read the policy wording.