First, don't assume the worst
Silence isn't always a collapse
Not returning calls doesn't automatically mean the firm has gone under. Plenty of R&D advisers are small operations (a handful of people or fewer), and a single busy period, a staff departure, or a change of priorities can produce exactly the same silence as something more serious. What matters is working out which one it is, and doing that quickly, because a claim sitting unattended has real deadlines attached to it regardless of why the adviser has stopped responding.
Why this happens more here than in most professional services
A market with a lot of smaller, newer firms
R&D tax relief attracted a wave of firms built specifically around it over the last several years, many of them small, contingency-fee operations rather than established accountancy practices with decades of institutional continuity. When compliance activity tightens, as it has, or when a firm's own commercial model comes under pressure, smaller firms are the ones most likely to fold quietly, deprioritise existing clients, or simply stop being reachable. It isn't a reason to avoid the whole market, but it is a reason to check status rather than assume it.
What to actually check first
Working papers, filing status, and who else was named
Three things are worth establishing before anything else:
- Whether the claim was actually filed. If the Additional Information Form was submitted and the claim went in with the Company Tax Return, the position is very different to a claim that was still being drafted when the adviser went quiet. See what the Additional Information Form requires for what that submission looks like.
- Who holds the working papers. The technical narrative, cost breakdown and supporting evidence are the company's material, and a company is entitled to ask for them back regardless of how the relationship ends.
- Whether the adviser was named as agent on the form. That matters if the claim later goes into an enquiry and HMRC is corresponding with an agent who's no longer reachable.
Worth checking directly with HMRC: if you're not sure whether a claim was actually filed, or whether an Additional Information Form went in, that's confirmable without needing the adviser's cooperation. Don't rely solely on what you were last told, especially where the last update is more than a few weeks old.
Registered advisers versus unregistered ones
Registration gives the relationship a formal shape
Advisers who interact with HMRC on a client's behalf now fall under a formal registration requirement under the Finance Act 2026, Part 7 (Schedule 20 sets out the exemptions to it, not the requirement itself). A registered adviser going quiet is a different situation to an unregistered one. There's a formal standing attached to the relationship, and HMRC's own dealings with them run through that registration. It doesn't solve the practical problem of an unresponsive firm, but it does mean the relationship has a documented shape to it rather than being entirely informal.
Finding who's actually still active
Don't just search again from scratch
If the claim needs picking up, whether that's finishing preparation, responding to HMRC, or simply confirming what's already been filed, our adviser register is a starting point. It's checked against Companies House and published terms rather than built from marketing copy, which helps when the firm you already trusted has stopped being reachable.
Decision helper
Alternatives and limitations
If the firm has closed, or an enquiry is open
If a quick Companies House check shows the firm has actually ceased trading or entered liquidation or administration, that's a distinct situation with its own steps: see the adviser firm has collapsed. And if the silence is on an open HMRC enquiry, time matters more than usual: see an HMRC enquiry has opened.
