Starting Contracting - In need of serious help!

[Andy Hallett]

I honestly do not know where to start

Bestpay Umbrella Company

If you choose to judge a company by its website

Is your website legal? - UKWDA

In short, all business websites must address the following points to be legally compliant:

Registered information: For a UK registered business, the website needs to display the Company Information i.e. the business name, place of registration, registered number, registered office address and if it is a member of a trade association. For sole traders and partnerships, the address of the principle place of business must be displayed.

Cookies: Recent legislation changes have meant that websites must require user consent to leave cookies on the visitor’s computer unless the cookie is a necessary requirement for the website to function (e.g. shopping cart cookies). For more information on cookies see our in-depth article Taking the biscuit: How to comply with the new UK cookie law.

Privacy Policy: A Privacy policy or data protection notice must be displayed on the website if data is processed and must inform the user what the data is used for and that it is compliant with the Data Protection Act 1988. The Privacy Policy must also explain what cookies will be created and their purpose.

Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (now the Equality Act 2010): All website owners must make sure their content is available to all users – for example the visually impaired – failure to comply may be considered ‘unlawful disability discrimination’.

Disclaimer: Visitors to a website can use the information published on it to the extent stipulated in the disclaimer. This document should also state that the website owner does not accept any liability that may arise from using or downloading information from the website.

Terms & Conditions: Terms, along with a Delivery and Returns Policy are all required as part of the Consumer Protection (Distance Selling) Regulations and Electronic Commerce Regulations (EC Directive). These terms must state:
Identity of the supplier and address
A description of the service
The contract price inclusive of taxes
Delivery costs (if applicable)
Payment and delivery arrangement
Notification of the right of cancellation
The cost of the means of communication by which the contract is to be concluded (e.g. premium rate telephone numbers)
The period for which the terms are available
Minimum duration of the contract, where it is not of one-off performance
EU Anti Spam Laws: To conform to EU Anti Spam Laws, ensure that email lists are only of ‘opt-in’ email addresses, and always include an ‘opt-out’ instruction on all marketing emails.
- See more at: Is your website legal? - UKWDA

[LisaContractorUmbrella]

Can I say thank you to everyone. This has been worrying me, I really rather just pay any tax owed rather than trying to exploit a rather stupid loop-holes, my experience is only short, I've only been in the game for 3 odd year's but it's something to keep me playing rather than sitting at home hoping something come's up I'm rather lucky my old colleges took me under there wing and let me work with them as we're going as team.

I've made a appointment to see an accountant tomorrow anyway as I really wanted to seek professional help and someone to help me get my head around all the law's ect.

He recommended over the phone becoming a Limited Company is usually the best route, but this being a short term thing for me I'm reluctant to go through all the loop-holes required essentially and hopefully only a few months where I can join exciting new program's with established company's.

Can I use any umbrella company or does the agency have to aprove it as well? I really have such a small understanding of the contracting side, especially starting as a apprentice contracted to the company.

Thanks for everyone's help I'm really glad I never signed them agreements.

If this will be short term for you then an umbrella company would be your best bet; if contracting works out for you then you can always open a Ltd Co later when you've got the hang of everything. Some agencies will restrict you in terms of which umbrella company you can use - the only thing I would say is that you should do your own due diligence to make sure that you'll be happy working with the company you select - after all it's your money that they'll be handling

There are lots of guides available which will explain how all of this works - there are some on this site - have a look over here -----> and we have some available (this one will be most appropriate for you First Timers Guide to Contracting | Contractor Umbrella. Once you've had a read I would advise you to make a list of questions for the umbrella companies you speak to; they should be able to answer clearly and concisely - if they are vague about the way you're paid or can't answer your questions then I would steer clear.

I know this all seems really daunting at the moment but the right umbrella company should guide you through everything you need to know and it should all seem like child's play in a couple of weeks

Good luck

[DonkeyRhubarb]

A bit worrying that the agency appears to be pushing people into a tax avoidance scheme.

I wonder how widespread this is?

[LisaContractorUmbrella]

A bit worrying that the agency appears to be pushing people into a tax avoidance scheme.

I wonder how widespread this is?

Unfortunately it's still pretty common as the 'referral fees' from these companies are so high

[DonkeyRhubarb]

Unfortunately it's still pretty common as the 'referral fees' from these companies are so high

Some people in the deGraaf version of the BN66 scheme were steered into it, in 2006 & 7, by one of the biggest recruitment agencies in the country.