Funding the large mandatory payments every professional practice faces

For established practices with clear trading history and the relevant HMRC assessment or return available, funding can typically be arranged within two to five working days. The closer your deadline, the narrower the range of lender options and the less time there is to compare. Calling us two to four weeks before a tax payment due date gives you the best outcome. If your payment is due within the next week, call us today rather than submitting an online enquiry.

Professional indemnity insurance premium finance is a specific lending product where the insurance policy itself is the security for the loan. Because the lender's risk is bounded by the value of the policy (which can be cancelled and the unearned premium recovered if the borrower defaults), rates are typically lower than an equivalent unsecured business loan. The arrangement is between the premium finance provider, the insurer, and the practice: you pay the premium finance provider in monthly instalments rather than paying the insurer a lump sum upfront. Any insurer's premium can be funded through any premium finance provider: you are not limited to a facility your insurer offers directly.

This is the most important question to understand before taking out premium finance. If you miss a monthly payment, the premium finance provider has the right to cancel the policy and recover the unearned premium from the insurer. This means your professional indemnity cover could lapse if payments are missed. The practical safeguard is to treat the monthly payment like a payroll commitment rather than a discretionary business expense, and to set up a direct debit on a date that aligns with your main fee income. We will make this risk explicit in any recommendation we make involving premium finance.

Yes. There is no reason why a practice cannot have a premium finance facility for the PI premium and a separate short-term loan for a Corporation Tax or VAT liability running at the same time. We will look at the total cost of both, confirm that the practice's cashflow can service both repayment schedules simultaneously, and recommend whether one combined facility or two separate products is more efficient for your specific position.

Yes. Premium finance is available to practices of any size, including sole practitioners, because the policy value is the primary security rather than the practice's balance sheet. Tax funding for sole practitioners and small partnerships is also available, though lenders will assess the individual partners' personal financial positions more closely than for a larger limited company. We work regularly with practices of all sizes and will give you an honest assessment of what is achievable before recommending any product.