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Help! Parasol - Confused about expences and not getting any help from them!

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    Help! Parasol - Confused about expences and not getting any help from them!

    Hi All,

    I'm fairly new to contracting and I wanted to post here to get some help as I'm having an awful time getting any answers from my umbrella company, Parasol.

    Their communication since I started my assignment has been terrible, they pretty much harassed me whilst getting everything up and running and now I'm with them it's like they barely want to know - my emails go unanswered for days, usually only replied to after I send a 2nd email asking for an update, even then the replies I'm getting seem to be copy/paste boiler text than anything helpful to me!

    Ultimately I'm paying £46 to them per week (between their 'margin' and 'employment costs' ) and I really feel like I'm not getting any value for money at all. I'm seriously considering going ltd or changing company, but that's a whole different issue.

    Anyway, onto my question;

    On a weekly basis between mileage, parking and food/drink I rack up circa £100 of expenses (all receipts kept).

    I'm paid weekly by Parasol, but only receive £24 expenses with my pay. This means £76 per week of expenses are building up, unpaid. Between starting my contract and now; I've racked up circa £450 of expenses with Parasol, but as I'm only given £24 per week, I never seem to be getting my expenses back and the amount of expenses I'm 'owed' just seems to be building up and building up and I fear I'm never actually going to get this back.

    So far I haven't actually had any decent answer from Parasol, but was wondering if you guys could clarify if this is 'normal'? I'm worried Parasol are messing something up but as it's so hard communicating with them and often takes days I'd rather see if you guys could help?

    #2
    How long have you been using them for?


    Do they tell you how they worked out that they are paying £24 and not £100?
    …Maybe we ain’t that young anymore

    Comment


      #3
      Thought about picking the phone up rather than relying on email?
      'CUK forum personality of 2011 - Winner - Yes really!!!!

      Comment


        #4
        Sounds like your rate isn't sufficient to cover NMW and Holiday pay, Employer NIC (Employment Costs in Parasol language), their margin and your expenses. If they are carrying expenses forward that's the most likely explanation.

        Do you get any commission above £0.01p in your pay? If not then that's definitely it.

        Comment


          #5
          Originally posted by northernladuk View Post
          Thought about picking the phone up rather than relying on email?
          +1

          Also, why not forward a link to this thread to them?

          Comment


            #6
            Originally posted by BrilloPad View Post
            +1

            Also, why not forward a link to this thread to them?
            Now that is a good idea!!!

            I remember ages ago a guy came on here slating parasol and rather amusingly parasol responded with the actual facts of the situation and left the OP looking a little daft. Calling out companies on forums can occasionally bite back lol.

            That said doing a quick search on parasol brings back a sorry set of results...

            https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=pa...actoruk.com%2F
            Last edited by northernladuk; 22 April 2016, 12:37.
            'CUK forum personality of 2011 - Winner - Yes really!!!!

            Comment


              #7
              Originally posted by northernladuk View Post
              Now that is a good idea!!!

              I remember ages ago a guy came on here slating parasol and rather amusingly parasol responded with the actual facts of the situation and left the OP looking a little daft. Calling out companies on forums can occasionally bite back lol.
              Indeed. Another thread going on about umbrella companies today. Before deciding I want to hear from the other side.

              Seems some contractors get funny about 0.3 of a day. Or doing something on facetime. There are plenty of problems out there without looking for them.

              Comment


                #8
                Originally posted by VelcroPower View Post
                Sounds like your rate isn't sufficient to cover NMW and Holiday pay, Employer NIC (Employment Costs in Parasol language), their margin and your expenses. If they are carrying expenses forward that's the most likely explanation.

                Do you get any commission above £0.01p in your pay? If not then that's definitely it.
                First of all, thank you for actually helping instead of throwing around accusations that I'm somehow out to get Parasol!

                My commission is 4p on my pay? I've been told they're carrying them forward - but I'm not sure exactly how far forward they're going to go, as I feel like I'm never going to get them back.

                P.S. For the other guys, I'm definitely not trying to "slate" them, I'm just explaining why I'm asking on here and not them directly. I'm unable to call them most of the time as I'm contracted to work late hours and usually sleep during the day. More over, something like this I'd rather deal with via email anyway so I have a paper trail.

                I've raised the issue of non-reply of emails with them directly, I'm not trying to hide anything!

                I'm not sure why anyone needs to hear "the other side of the story", my issue is them not really replying to emails on time, something I've raised with them directly, I'm not full on slating them, I've come here to get sort of an independent opinion on the situation. I'm new to contracting and I have no idea if this is right or wrong, for all I know they could be robbing me, I'm just asking for a bit of support, not trying to bring down Parasol with some potty passive aggressive complaint!
                Last edited by AJXX; 22 April 2016, 12:44.

                Comment


                  #9
                  We did used to have Steve@Parasol who was all over these types of threads and either looked in to the personally or got a senior operations to look in to them. Was a pretty fair service to be honest. He's been AWOL for 4 years now though which is a shame.
                  'CUK forum personality of 2011 - Winner - Yes really!!!!

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Originally posted by northernladuk View Post
                    We did used to have Steve@Parasol who was all over these types of threads and either looked in to the personally or got a senior operations to look in to them. Was a pretty fair service to be honest. He's been AWOL for 4 years now though which is a shame.
                    Thanks, I've been dealing with one of their 'senior' advisors for the last week or so, unfortunately it's the same situation. No reply to emails for a day or so (they advise 4 hours usually) and then I send an email asking for an update, and then get a reply.

                    Again not slating them and not sure why the thread has turned into a bit of a which-hunt, I was just looking for a bit of advice whilst explaining my plight

                    Comment

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