IPT06315 - Insurance premium tax: Maintaining the IPT Register: Overseas Insurers: Who can act as an agent?

While we can not impose any specific conditions over who an overseas insurer chooses to act as agent for them, ultimately the insurer is responsible for their IPT obligations. They would not, for example, necessarily be able to rely on any error or failure by the agent as an excuse for failure to discharge their own responsibilities. In addition the agent may be liable to a civil penalty for certain errors made on returns etc. Therefore, the insurer would need to be confident that whoever they appointed was capable of dealing correctly with all of their IPT affairs and the person nominated as agent must have sufficient capacity to fully discharge all of the insurers IPT obligations. Notice IPT1 paragraph 11.3 (update 1) provides general information for overseas insurers or their agents.