Why choosing matters more than it used to
HMRC’s compliance response to years of overclaiming means every claim now goes through a more demanding process: mandatory additional information, named agents on every claim, and far more checks. An adviser’s habits are visible to HMRC across all the claims they file. Choosing well is therefore not just about your claim being prepared competently; it is about whose filing patterns your company is associated with.
The named-agent point is worth pausing on: the Additional Information Form requires details of every agent involved in the claim. Anonymous advice no longer exists in this market. That is good for you, and uncomfortable for the tail of the market it was designed for.
The five questions
1. Who regulates you, and under what rules? You are listening for a professional body (CIOT, ICAEW or similar), PCRT compliance, professional indemnity insurance and anti-money-laundering supervision. “We are not regulated but very experienced” is an answer; it is just an answer that removes every safeguard if things go wrong. Our own answer to this question is on about InnoClaim.
2. Who will actually do our technical work? The pitch team and the delivery team are often different people. Ask who will interview your engineers, who writes the narrative, and who signs the claim off. Then ask what happens when that person thinks part of your project does not qualify.
3. What does the fee reward? Covered fully on what advisers charge. The short version: understand whether anything about the price grows when the claim grows, and what safeguards manage that pull.
4. What is your enquiry experience, honestly? Everyone says “we have never had a claim rejected”. Better questions: how many enquiries have you handled to conclusion, what did HMRC challenge, and what changed in your process afterwards? A firm that has genuinely never seen an enquiry has either filed very few claims or is not telling you something. Enquiries happen to good claims too; what matters is the record of defending them.
5. When did you last tell a client not to claim? The single fastest filter. A firm that cannot answer immediately, with comfort, treats every conversation as a sale. The whole value of advice rests on the willingness to say no.
Walk away when you hear
- A promised or “typical” claim value before anyone has looked at your work.
- “HMRC has approved our methodology”, or any suggestion of a special relationship. HMRC does not pre-approve advisers or methods.
- “Everyone in your industry claims.” Sector membership qualifies nobody; the statutory test does.
- Pressure to sign before a deadline that turns out to be the adviser’s, not HMRC’s.
- Reluctance to put the fee, the scope or the five answers above in writing.
Frequently asked questions
Does an adviser have to be regulated?
Tax advice is not a protected activity in the UK, so unregulated firms can and do operate, though from May 2026 any paid adviser who deals with HMRC must register with HMRC and meet its minimum standards. Registration is a baseline, not accreditation. Membership of a professional body such as the CIOT or ICAEW brings binding conduct rules, complaint routes and anti-money-laundering supervision. It is not a guarantee of quality, but its absence removes every backstop.
Are big firms safer than specialists?
Neither label answers anything. What matters is who will actually do your technical work, what their qualifying judgements are like, and how the fee is structured. Ask those questions of any size of firm and the label stops mattering.
Should we choose whoever promises the biggest claim?
That is the single most reliable warning sign in this market. Nobody can know your claim value before doing the work, and a pitch built on a number is a pitch built on optimism you will carry the risk for. The claim is the company's responsibility, not the adviser's.
Is InnoClaim the right adviser for us?
Ask us the five questions on this page and judge the answers; that is exactly what they are for. We are built for UK companies that want a fixed fee, chartered oversight and a straight answer, and the first conversation is free precisely so you can test the fit before committing to anything.