The flat-rate scheme and the small practice scheme.

The small practice scheme was launched to cater for the needs of the smaller professional practice. The target market is the self-employed surveyor who is not heavily into surveys and valuations and has a gross fee income under £75,000 per annum.

Many insurers imposed high minimum premiums on professional indemnity insurance, which hit the small practice hard.

Under the small practice scheme, minimum premiums were brought down to a realistic and containable level. Some surveyors found that this resulted in their own premium being reduced by as much as half. Additionally they were sent pre-completed proposal forms and enjoyed a prompt and efficient service.

Whilst Anchorman Insurance Consultants Limited are an insurance intermediary and fulfil a brokers role, this has been extended under the small practice scheme to giving us underwriting authority and a policy documentation issuing facility. This allows us to make decisions on behalf of the insurers and also apply common sense when calculating a premium. There is no more waiting for weeks if not months for your documents, as we would expect to issue and send them to you on the same day that we receive the signed proposal form and payment.

The small practice scheme is exclusively available through Anchorman Insurance, and cannot be bought through any other outlet. RICS members may have seen this policy advertised over the past few years in the Chartered Surveyor Monthly, and yes, it is RICS compliant!

In January 2001, the RICS increased the mandatory minimum limit of indemnity from £100,000 each and every claim to £250,000 each and every claim. As a result of this we decided to launch the Flat-Rate Scheme.

This scheme was aimed at the very small practices, particularly the part-timers. Whilst the policy provides a limit of indemnity of £250,000 each & every claim and is fully RICS compliant, the premium was agreed with the underwriters at a flat £497.50 (inclusive of tax).

This policy is available to sole-traders, full or part-time, who have a fee income of under £10,000 per annum and no more than 10% of the fees are derived from surveys &/or valuations. It is also a condition that your fees over the past six years have not exceeded £12,000 in any single year.

This policy has proved very popular to building control officers who undertake part-time design work in their spare time.