New Feature: Risk Assessment & Claim Reviews

We’re very pleased to announce the release of two new features in the WhisperClaims app! As part of our commitment to ensuring quality and compliance for claims prepared using our software, we’ve developed a risk assessment tool to help you make sure that your claims are as robust as possible—giving you the ability to request and pay for in-depth claim reviews at the point of purchasing your claims.

What is a claim risk assessment?

A claim risk assessment looks at a variety of factors, including company sector, size of claim and company turnover, in order to benchmark the claim against claims for similar companies and give a rating of how likely the claim is to a) attract attention from HMRC and b) stand up to their questions. It’s not a measure of the eligibility of a claim, but more a tool to help you understand the weaknesses of the claim and take steps to mitigate the highlighted risks. 

Why have we introduced the risk review?

Here at WhisperClaims we’re committed to raising standards in the R&D tax relief world, so rather than hoarding the knowledge we’ve gained over the years—,preparing claims, assessing ones prepared by others, and defending enquiries—we wanted to find a way to share this with our users. This feature will enable you to make more informed decisions about your claims, and make sure that you have confidence to know that if HMRC come knocking, you have done everything you can to make sure your claims are robust and defensible.

How does the risk assessment work?

The risk assessment is completely automated and appears on your claim review screen each time that you press the ‘review’ button. Any changes you make to the claim will update the claim review, so it always gives you the most up-to-date rating and areas of concern. You don’t need to do anything to make the assessment appear, and we’ve made no changes to the claim preparation flow.

Sounds good! What’s the difference between a risk assessment and a claim review?

As stated above, the risk assessment is fully-automated and can therefore only assess certain types of information about the claim. A claim review, on the other hand, is a manual process whereby one of our R&D experts takes a deep-dive into the claim and any other publicly available information about the claimant company, to produce a detailed document about the claim. The review looks at the likelihood that the projects are eligible, based on the information provided, and analyses the costs to ensure that the claim hangs together as a whole. 

How much does a claim review cost, and how can I get one?

A full claim review costs £100, and can now be requested and paid for at the claim checkout. Once we get a notification that a client has requested a review, we spring into action, aiming to have your report with you within one business day.

Do I need a claim review for every claim?

That’s entirely up to you – we have some clients that never use this service, some that use it only for the trickier claims, and some that like the reassurance every time. We tend to find that clients who are new to the scheme appreciate the extra pair of eyes on a claim as they gain experience and confidence, and after a certain point are happy to go it alone, knowing that they can always ask for further reviews if they come across something particularly taxing. However, even our most experienced clients can sometimes find themselves in need of a little help!