More than 370,000 small businesses in England and Wales could be due a payout on their business interruption insurance after the Supreme Court ruled in favour of payments being made on previously refused claims and policies.

A number of insurers have lost an appeal against an earlier ruling, brought in a test case by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), which required them to payout on existing business interruption insurance policies as a result of the pandemic.

In the first lockdown of spring 2020, many small businesses made claims through their business interruption insurance schemes for loss of earnings when they had to close as a result of the Government’s restrictions.

However, they were soon told by their insurers that they were not eligible for a payout because only specialist policies had cover for such unprecedented events.

Following an outcry from the small business community, many of whom had paid thousands of pounds for insurance coverage, the FCA launched a test case which looked at a selection of policy wordings to establish the parameters for what would be considered a valid claim.

Last year an initial case at the High Court found that some insurers should have paid out for losses caused by the lockdown. Judges ruled that disease clauses found in many business interruption insurance policies should have meant they were covered and been compensated for the loss of income due to the Coronavirus restrictions.

An appeal was then brought and the test case was fast-tracked to the Supreme Court – the highest court in England and Wales – who conducted a four-day hearing last year, before delivering a final ruling.

This latest ruling provides authoritative guidance for these policies, and similar ones that were not part of the case, which will be used by the FCA, the insurance sector, and the Financial Ombudsman to assess claims and make judgements.

This impacts on all eligible policies held at the time of the first lockdown, whether an initial claim was made and rejected or not.

The ruling covers a wide range of matters including disease clauses, whether businesses were denied access to the properties they owned by restrictions and the timing of lost earnings.

Giving the court’s ruling Lord Hamblen said the court accepted the arguments from representatives of policyholders and dismissed the appeals from insurers finding in policyholders’ favour.

Although the initial case only tested a small number of policies from eight different insurers, the FCA has said that the findings could affect up to 700 different policies held by various insurers and lead to payments for more than 370,000 small businesses that hold policies.

Insurers, such as Hiscox, Arch, Argenta, MS Amlin, QBE and RSA, that were involved in the case will now process claims. However, as many as 60 insurers who sold similar products may now also pay out on eligible policies.

Huw Evans, Director General of the Association of British Insurers, has said that all valid claims will be settled and that the process of settling some claims was already underway.

Most eligible policyholders should be contacted by their insurer following the ruling, but businesses are being encouraged to check whether they can make a claim.

As for new claims relating to the latest lockdowns, the insurance industry has said that most policies for new and renewing customers have already been amended and that losses from the latest lockdown measures would be clearly stated as part of the cover.

If you require assistance with any issues related to the COVID-19 pandemic, please contact us.

HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) has increased the threshold for Self-Assessment taxpayers to use its online self-service Time to Pay payment plan service from £10,000 in tax liabilities to £30,000.

The move means that more taxpayers will be able to spread the cost of their tax bills by paying in monthly instalments, without having to call HMRC.

The Chancellor announced in his Winter Economy Plan that taxpayers will be able to arrange a payment plan of up to 12 monthly instalments to cover tax payments deferred from July 2020.

HMRC now says that this also covers outstanding tax owed for 2019-20 and the first payment on account for the current tax year.

Taxpayers must set up a payment plan no later than 60 days after the due date of the tax debt to qualify for the payment plan, which, for tax payments due on 31 January 2021 is 1 April 2021.

However, setting up a payment plan more than 30 days after the due date of the tax debt will lead to late payment penalties. This means payment plans in respect of tax due on 31 January 2021 would need to be set up by 2 March 2021.

Unlike the previous Self-Assessment deferral of the second payment on account that was due on 31 July 2020, the new payment plans will be subject to interest from 1 February 2021.

To qualify for a payment plan using the online self-service Time-to-Pay system, taxpayers must:

• Have no outstanding tax returns;
• Have no other tax debts;
• Have no other HMRC payment plans set up; and
• Have a debt of between £32 and £30,000.

HMRC has also warned taxpayers against scammers claiming to be from HMRC and offering to set up payment plans. Currently, payment plans can only be set up by individual taxpayers.

HMRC says that taxpayers may have the option of using the online self-serve Time to Pay facility on GOV.UK once they have completed their 2019-20 Self-Assessment tax return.

Those with Self-Assessment debts of more than £30,000 or who need more than 12 months to pay the tax they owe may be able to set up a Time to Pay arrangement via the Self-Assessment Payment Helpline on 0300 200 3822.

Link: If you cannot pay your tax bill on time

An independent commission established last spring by the London School of Economics, the University of Warwick and the Economic and Social Research Council to analyse proposals for a wealth tax has rejected an annual tax but has advocated a one-off charge.

The commission comprises senior academics from the universities involved as well as tax barrister, Emma Chamberlain.

While Chancellor, Rishi Sunak, has previously rejected the idea of a wealth tax, the commission’s independence means that the idea may gain traction in the coming years.

In rejecting the idea of an annual wealth tax, the commission argues that such a levy would “have higher administrative costs relative to revenue than a one-off tax, which means that it is currently not feasible” considering the lower tax thresholds.

It goes on to note that “at very high levels of wealth, the extent of these responses remains uncertain. Some responses could be mitigated by careful design, but others would be more difficult to resolve.”

Instead, the commission argues for substantial reforms of existing taxes on wealth instead of “minor tinkering”. They suggest this approach would be more efficient economically and less costly to administer.

In contrast, the commission advocated a one-off charge to help repair the public finances following the pandemic, arguing:

A well-designed one-off wealth tax would raise a total of £260 billion at a rate of five per cent over £500,000 per individual or £80 billion at a rate of five per cent of £2 million per individual, payable at one per cent per year over five years.

The report goes on to say that such a measure should not be pre-announced in order to prevent forestalling but that deferrals should be permitted where taxpayers are constrained in their liquidity.

The commission says that such a charge would be preferable to increasing taxes on work or spending.

Link: The Wealth Tax Commission

According to reports in the Financial Times, the Government is considering launching a new loan scheme, where businesses could borrow anything up to £10 million through an 80 per cent state-guaranteed bank loan.

The new scheme, which could be a successor to the existing Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS), would provide a permanent state-backed small business loan to eligible companies.

Under the plans, the Government would guarantee loans to small businesses ranging from a few thousand pounds up to £10 million over a six-year lending period.

This would effectively extend the CBILS, but with a lower threshold once applications for the existing loan scheme ends on 31 March this year.

The Financial Times reports that participating banks could set their own interest rate for their loans, capped at around 15 per cent. Research by GrowthBusiness found that lenders are charging anything between three per cent and 15 per cent for current CBILS loans.

As yet, no official announcement has been made on such a scheme, but it is understood that the Chancellor is looking to announce a range of options to support jobs and businesses in his upcoming Budget on 3 March 2021.

Douglas Grant, Director of CBILS lender Conister, said: “We fully support the UK Government’s plans to launch a permanent replacement for the £65 billion Covid loans programme to support SMEs.

“This more permanent financial support from the Government will be welcome news to those resilient SMEs that have already shown extraordinary levels of adaptability and strength in the face of changing consumer behaviour.”

Link: Government plans permanent state-backed small business loan scheme

Within hours of the Prime Minister announcing a new national lockdown in England, HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) has issued new warnings after it received reports that fraudsters were attempting to dupe taxpayers by pretending to be the tax authority.

Throughout the last year, criminals attempted to scam businesses and individuals out of money by sending fake HMRC correspondences related to COVID-19.

According to the latest reports, a number of scam text messages are now being sent out, informing people they are entitled to receive a grant from the Government as a result of the latest national lockdown.

One such scam message reads: “HMRC: The third lockdown has been announced. Our records show you have been issued a grant of £240 to help during this period.”

Taxpayers who receive the text are then redirected to a website designed to mimic GOV.UK, which asks them to enter the personal and financial details to receive a grant.

As part of the scam, individuals are asked to provide their card details, information it states is necessary “to confirm and deposit the calculated amount”.

Although the Government has announced £4.6 billion of grant funding for businesses during the latest lockdown, this funding is not applied for online in this way.

In response to the latest reports, HMRC has said it will never send any texts to people regarding a tax refund, rebate or grant. People can, therefore, safely assume such correspondence is a scam.

Instead, those who think they may be eligible for grant funding or other COVID-19 financial support should seek professional advice so that they can make the necessary applications.

Link: Avoid and report internet scams and phishing