ICAEW Member Wins Subs Court Battle

AN ICAEW member has been awarded £1,500 against the institute in a small claims court for overpaid subscriptions.

Mike Pallot, a former PwC senior partner at the firm's Plymouth office, successfully argued that the ICAEW's subscription notices failed to make it clear that he was due a reduced subscription due to his retirement.

Pallot spent more than a year arguing with the ICAEW to repay half his subscription fee between 2006 and 2009.Plymouth County Court ordered the institute to pay Pallot £1,457.20. The payment could open up the institute to more claims.

"The ICAEW certainly seems to have gone to great lengths not to set a precedent by refunding me the amounts I paid as a result of what I see as a clear lack of transparency on its part, although I am at a loss to understand why it didn't seek to settle my claim in a sensible way before the matter reached court," Pallot said in a letter to Accountancy Age.

An ICAEW spokeswoman said: "It's unfortunate, and we're disappointed it wasn't resolved differently. As a result of this case, we will be reviewing our procedures on the issue of claiming back fees."