Umbrella Companies - Best of a bad bunch?
Discussion
I finally have to succumb to going inside IR35 and am looking at accepting a contract from one of the big banks.
The agency has given me this list of Umbrella companies on their preferred suppliers list - does anyone have any experiences or recommendations to share?
www.jsagroup.co.uk
www.contractorumbrella.com
www.danbro.co.uk
www.nasagroup.co.uk
www.smartwork.com
The agency has given me this list of Umbrella companies on their preferred suppliers list - does anyone have any experiences or recommendations to share?
www.jsagroup.co.uk
www.contractorumbrella.com
www.danbro.co.uk
www.nasagroup.co.uk
www.smartwork.com
I have used Contractor Umbrella from that list - no issue with them and all went well. I spoke to a few before picking CU and most had 'shady' deals going on (CU didn't). As they should all give the same return less their fees, I was surprised to see different 'salaries' to me excluding fees and CU was the highest from the lot (from memory) and tied in most closely with my calcs.
Ranger 6 said:
Thanks - I'm seeing £17.50 - £20 pw being taken as their fees. Does that match with your experience?
The other useful thing is that some are doing salary sacrifice pension contributions too.
They all have to do pension but it comes from your day rate I had to use Nasa year ago they were fine other than no rights employee and paying a fee to get paid your own money. Umbrella firms are leechesThe other useful thing is that some are doing salary sacrifice pension contributions too.
Ranger 6 said:
Thanks - I'm seeing £17.50 - £20 pw being taken as their fees. Does that match with your experience?
The other useful thing is that some are doing salary sacrifice pension contributions too.
CU were taking £29.50 from me back in late 2018 - I don't know how they arrived at that figure but having looked back at my comparison spreadsheet, CU had the highest fee but returned the largest amount of salary - weird!! Go Accounting had the lowest fee but out of 4 companies returned the second lowest salary.The other useful thing is that some are doing salary sacrifice pension contributions too.
They were obliged to set up a salary sacrifice pension but I was able to immediately opt out.
My advice, I was working in manufacturing and was advised on a few, get a quote from each of them, they will all quote roughly similar.
Be careful though as some of them will give you quotes to get you in then add fees later on. And your pay is NEVER what you expect!
It is a total racket to be fair and now at least in my industry, without expenses it is often better to be paid directly by the firm if possible, in my trade at least the differences between PAYE and umbrella are not what they were, and if you can't push expenses like fuel and sustenance it is often not worth bothering for the hassle and garbage umbrellas give you at times.
Having said that if you find a good one, use them every time, regardless of what recruiters want, they are on the take from preferred umbrellas so tell them you will, only use yours if you cant stuff the job as you are losing out.
Be careful though as some of them will give you quotes to get you in then add fees later on. And your pay is NEVER what you expect!
It is a total racket to be fair and now at least in my industry, without expenses it is often better to be paid directly by the firm if possible, in my trade at least the differences between PAYE and umbrella are not what they were, and if you can't push expenses like fuel and sustenance it is often not worth bothering for the hassle and garbage umbrellas give you at times.
Having said that if you find a good one, use them every time, regardless of what recruiters want, they are on the take from preferred umbrellas so tell them you will, only use yours if you cant stuff the job as you are losing out.
I work the same hours on the same rate every week
They take out the same pension payment every single week
My take home pay is never the same every single week, there’s always a slight change on the tax and NI every single week
I am yet to hear a reason as to why this is the case.
Make sure that your umbrella passes muster with your pension provider. I was informed that the umbrella must pass some financial control tests to ensure they are all above board. The previous umbrella company I was using never responded to the paperwork the pension company sent out.
They signed me up to “their” pension scheme despite signing paperwork telling them not to. £800 of pension payments went missing, and no-one knows anything about it. It was going to cost me more to chase it, then it did to write it off. So, it’s been written off – that hurt.
It was the main reason I left that contract as the umbrella were screwing me around so much. It wasn’t just me, 2 other guys in the same place were treated badly too. One needed legal and accountancy advice to sort out a major mistake they had made on his tax payments. They took £2K out of his pay “because they had to” to correct a mistake they had made on this tax code. For 2 weeks, he received NO take home pay….
Every time you ring them up it’s the usual call centre malarkey. They never ring back unless they want money off you.
They are scum.
They take out the same pension payment every single week
My take home pay is never the same every single week, there’s always a slight change on the tax and NI every single week
I am yet to hear a reason as to why this is the case.
Make sure that your umbrella passes muster with your pension provider. I was informed that the umbrella must pass some financial control tests to ensure they are all above board. The previous umbrella company I was using never responded to the paperwork the pension company sent out.
They signed me up to “their” pension scheme despite signing paperwork telling them not to. £800 of pension payments went missing, and no-one knows anything about it. It was going to cost me more to chase it, then it did to write it off. So, it’s been written off – that hurt.
It was the main reason I left that contract as the umbrella were screwing me around so much. It wasn’t just me, 2 other guys in the same place were treated badly too. One needed legal and accountancy advice to sort out a major mistake they had made on his tax payments. They took £2K out of his pay “because they had to” to correct a mistake they had made on this tax code. For 2 weeks, he received NO take home pay….
Every time you ring them up it’s the usual call centre malarkey. They never ring back unless they want money off you.
They are scum.
Ranger 6 said:
and to add to the list - how about Paystream?
I use Paystream and I'm happy with them. Signing up was painless, their online portal is decent enough. I've had zero issue with payments.The main thing to check between them all is support for SIPP & pension contributions. Most umbrellas will only pay into 'their' pension, however Paystream allow you to pay into your own SIPP. I have that set up with my SIPP provider and it's also 'just worked'. (If you have a SIPP, just check beforehand with whoever you chose that they are supported.)
To note I previously used Brookson. I changed mostly because they didn't allow SIPP contributions, but I also felt treated like a cash cow. Constantly bombarded with 'offers' for all their add on services like IFA's etc. And their customer service was garbage. In comparison, I've had nothing from Paystream other than SMS's and emails about getting paid. And the limited times I've used customer service it's been good.
Ranger 6 said:
Advice from an accountant is that for anyone to charge employers NI is illegal.
He's taking action on behalf of a different client to claim back those charges.
He's taking action on behalf of a different client to claim back those charges.
I'm all ears here - might I have some cash incoming if I can claim from my umbrella Co?....Please keep us / me posted!!
Ranger 6 said:
Advice from an accountant is that for anyone to charge employers NI is illegal.
He's taking action on behalf of a different client to claim back those charges.
It will be down to the wording in the contract - difference between assignment rate and the pay rate:He's taking action on behalf of a different client to claim back those charges.
https://www.itcontracting.com/employers-national-i...
Now it could be that some umbrellas do not make this as clear as they should. Sadly mine did explain, so I don't expect any refund.
so no summer bonus for me! 
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