How to claim from former accountant?

Eucalypta

My husband was self employed until he retired just before the first lockdown in 2020. He informed his tax accountant of this and asked him to prepare his last SA and then he'd deregister as self employed.  We were confident that he'd submitted the SA because he's done so for years beforehand with no problem and also because my husband was asked to check the return before submission and then was billed for it! Long story short, HMRC sen penalty notices and fines. The accountant (chartered ICAEW) said that he had done so, was picking it up with HMRC and he'd sort it.  Of course the penalties and interest increased and the accountant stopped responding to emails, letters and calls. My husband has appealed unsuccessfully because relying on a chartered accountant is no excuse - although he was able to submit evidence to show that he had done his best to keep on top of the accountant, and has paid the fines and penalties. We had notified the accountant in writing that should the appeal be unsuccessful we'd be seeking to recover losses from his PI insurance - again no reply. Having suffered a substantial (for us) loss of £1600 we can't really afford a solicitor and yet are getting nowhere because the accountant isn't responding. No win no fee solicitors are tempting but I'm always cautious about those.  Any advice please? My husband isn't now sleeping well and it's worried us for months. 

Grumpy_chap

Is the Accountant still alive and well plus still trading?

Is it a one-person-band Accountant, or a firm of Accountants?

LBA and small claims may be the route to take, but I can't advise on the detail of that approach.

Eucalypta said:

My husband was self employed until he retired just before the first lockdown in 2020. He informed his tax accountant of this and asked him to prepare his last SA and then he'd deregister as self employed.  We were confident that he'd submitted the SA because he's done so for years beforehand with no problem and also because my husband was asked to check the return before submission and then was billed for it! Long story short, HMRC sen penalty notices and fines. The accountant (chartered ICAEW) said that he had done so, was picking it up with HMRC and he'd sort it.  Of course the penalties and interest increased and the accountant stopped responding to emails, letters and calls. My husband has appealed unsuccessfully because relying on a chartered accountant is no excuse - although he was able to submit evidence to show that he had done his best to keep on top of the accountant, and has paid the fines and penalties. We had notified the accountant in writing that should the appeal be unsuccessful we'd be seeking to recover losses from his PI insurance - again no reply. Having suffered a substantial (for us) loss of £1600 we can't really afford a solicitor and yet are getting nowhere because the accountant isn't responding. No win no fee solicitors are tempting but I'm always cautious about those.  Any advice please? My husband isn't now sleeping well and it's worried us for months. 

Eucalypta

Thank you. He’s certainly alive and trading but don’t know about his health. We’re considering one more try at asking for his PI details and then looking at small claims. We’re very uneasy about the lack of response from him though. Thank you for your reply 

Jeremy535897

Eucalypta said:

Thank you. He’s certainly alive and trading but don’t know about his health. We’re considering one more try at asking for his PI details and then looking at small claims. We’re very uneasy about the lack of response from him though. Thank you for your reply 

https://www.icaew.com/regulation/complaints-process/make-a-complaint

Sandtree

Eucalypta said:

Thank you. He’s certainly alive and trading but don’t know about his health. We’re considering one more try at asking for his PI details and then looking at small claims. We’re very uneasy about the lack of response from him though. Thank you for your reply 

His PI insurance is for his benefit not yours and it is up to him if he wants them to deal with it or handle the matter himself. Given the likely excess on the policy a £1,600 claim is unlikely to be cost effective to put through his insurance.

EL and Motor are the two classes where claimants can go directly to the insurer and its why both classes have a public register of policies that can be searched.

You need to be presenting your claim to him not asking for his insurance details. 

unholyangel

Has the return now been submitted or is it still outstanding? If he thought it was submitted, did he pay any tax due on time? 

Eucalypta

Thank you, everyone.  The return was submitted in September, apparently, when my husband first informed him of the contact from HMRC and not when he originally said it had (and billed for.) He has since been in touch to say that he accepts responsibility and will reimburse my husband for the penalties that he had to pay within 2 weeks.  This was a month ago and has not yet happened.  Another letter has been sent signed for, as emails are now being ignored. So disappointed: he had done such a good job over a number of years until this.