PCG vs QDOS

[Lockhouse]

Interesting....

Ball park figure for how much they charge for the top up? I'm assuming that the top up is the payment of any back tax and penalties should you lose your PCG covered case?

TIA.

Yep indeed - ISTR around an additional £300 mark for me. YMMV.

[malvolio]

As Wreay have gone under recently will there be anything left this year

Case in point - PCG emailed everyone that Wreay was in trouble as soon as they could (as soon as they could legally, that is, the signs were there a bit earlier) and are now helping all the caught people as best they can. A group of n conractors woking together have a much stronger voice that n contractors working individually.

There are reset points in the coverage, so it's not all bleak. And it is the last ditch safety net option; it's not unreasonable that you should go through due process to reclaim your own debts before claiming.

(and, of course, not many contractors are exposed to more than £5k risk at a time anyway, are they?)

[Pondlife]

Yep indeed - ISTR around an additional £300 mark for me. YMMV.

Many Thanks. £300 seems a reasonable amount for all that guilt free cash.

[oracleslave]

(and, of course, not many contractors are exposed to more than £5k risk at a time anyway, are they?)

You are kidding. 30 day terms, miss one payment and you could be facing a lot more than that.

[Pondlife]

(and, of course, not many contractors are exposed to more than £5k risk at a time anyway, are they?)

Thats a day rate of £250 based on a monthly invoice. So quite a few I would imagine. Or have I missunderstood?

[oracleslave]

Thats a day rate of £250 based on a monthly invoice. So quite a few I would imagine. Or have I missunderstood?

Assuming I start work on 01 Jan at £500. Invoice is due for payment on 28 Feb. Say they miss one payment. I could have done 3 months work by the time I realise there is a major issue. That's 3 months down the tube and closer to 25k than 5k surely?

[Lewis]

Assuming I start work on 01 Jan at £500. Invoice is due for payment on 28 Feb. Say they miss one payment. I could have done 3 months work by the time I realise there is a major issue. That's 3 months down the tube and closer to 25k than 5k surely?

He was kidding. You are right it's going to be much more than £5K for almost all.

[malvolio]

Well spotted chaps....

So you accept that £5k cover is not a lot in use and is only really enough to keep you rolling while you sort out the mess?

And that we all need to keep an eye on our invoices and jump on any late payments as soon as we can, just in case?

Just checking, like.

As for Survive35, it's turnover dependent - as in

With premiums starting at £250 per annum for annualised contract values of up to £50,000 and well under £350 for freelancers with contract income of up to £150,000

[Lewis]

Many Thanks. £300 seems a reasonable amount for all that guilt free cash.

So

(1) PCGPlus = 260 + 300 Extra = £560

or

(2) TLC35 = £350

or if you want to support PCG as well

(3) TLC35 = £350 + PCG Standard £140 = £490

There's not much in it. I'd go with whoever has the best service, problem is that is hard to tell until you get investigated. I thought the advantage of (3) is that you can choose who to fight your case QDOS or AbbeyTax as and when it goes wrong.

[hgllgh]

I contacted both PCG and QDOS. PCG said they would not negotiate any contract terms with an agency on my behalf in the case that the agency did not want to change their terms related to IR35. I would need to get the contract reviewed and only B&C offer this is part of their contract review service which would cost about £150 per contract.

Howvever QDOS said they would offer this service and a tax consultant would be happy to do this if necessary.

For example, in my current contract the schedule stipulates "normal working hours" and then defines "normal working hours" as a "professional working day (8:30am to 6:00 pm)

I am guessing I need to get that changed to exclude the hours?

In general, how amenable are agencies to changing these kind of contract details?