About to go with Nixon Williams

**newbee** · 31 July 2008, 09:43

1. Do you bank with Carter Allen as they suggested or did you pick another and why? Yes, with Cater allen very quick services took 1 week to open account
2. What insurance company you went with? I do have a risk involved where my contract is, so I want to be covered. Who are you using and for how much? QDOS, found them cheapest
3. They say they will register me with Qdos consulting for three free IR35 assessments. Any experiences?- yes they do free, but give status saying inside or outside
4. Important: is there any other thing I should be aware of which is not covered by their services?

**Nixon Williams** · 31 July 2008, 09:49

Well I think you would be making a good choice!

To answer your points though:

1. You can use any bank you wish, Cater Allen, in my opinion offer the best deal for the contractor market. Whilst there are some such as Abbey, A&L, they may offer slightly more interest but this usually involves having a separate deposit account etc, and the extra say £20 interest is not worth the hassle of remembering to transfer funds etc, but it is your choice.

2. Qdos offer a good range of products but there are others that can do the same, last time we checked, Qdos was the most competitive.

3. Whilst I cannot comment from the contractor point of view, they do have a very good track record.

4. Our fees are fully inclusive, so we cover all the services that you would require for your company, we also prepare your personal tax return for the fee. If you are new we would set your business up, register with HMRC for PAYE, Corporation tax, VAT etc and all this is free prrovided you use our services for at least 12 months.

I hope this deals with your questions, please get back if you have any other questions or feel free to PM me.

Alan

**w3bdEw** · 31 July 2008, 10:06

Thank you newbee... very helpful.

Thanks Alan for replying. Are you trying to save that referral bonus somebody might get? LOL

On a serious note your post cleared up a couple of confusions but I was really after review from your clients.

**w3bdEw** · 31 July 2008, 10:16

NW are offering me following services

-- edit
removed details of services as people are thinking I am advertising.

Can a moderator please activate my account? It is really frustrating that I reply to people and then have to wait for my messages to appear.

Like I said before:

Originally posted by w3bdEw View Post

but I was really after review from your clients.

I was really after advice from people who have used them.

**blacjac** · 31 July 2008, 10:55

1. Do you bank with Carter Allen as they suggested or did you pick another and why?

No, they were recomended by my accountant (not NW), but when I told my accountant we'd been offered 2 years free Business Banking with HSBC as I am a long standing customer, he advised We go for that as there would be less hassle setting up as HSBC already know me. 2 Business accounts (current & savings) were opened up in less than an hour. Plus back then cater allen didn't do online banking which was a real downside for me.
Since then we have stuck with HSBC as they have been good to us, we did think about transfering to Cater Allen when the free period expired, but we would not really have been that much better off (we currently get approx £100 a month in interest and pay < £7 in fees), and we couldn't be bothered with the hassle of moving.

2. What insurance company you went with? I do have a risk involved where my contract is, so I want to be covered. Who are you using and for how much?

In the 1st year we went with the PCG recomended one for two reasons.
i. They gave us a discount.
ii. Our american client was insisting on insurances that are not sold in this country and the PCG one was the only one that understood what the clients actually meant and could explain to us what we had to say to the client to appese their feers.

Since then we are no longer with PCG so every year we shop around to find the best quote for what we need. Currently with Hiscox for PI and Towergate for everything else.

3. They say they will register me with Qdos consulting for three free IR35 assessments. Any experiences?

Nope, never had a contract reviewed.

.

4. Important: is there any other thing I should be aware of which is not covered by their services?

Can't speak for NW.

**moorfield** · 31 July 2008, 10:58

Originally posted by w3bdEw View Post

NO spreadsheets to complete!

Call me picky but NW do have a monthly expenses and mileage spreadsheet you need to complete, do they not?

And be wary of the "leave it all to us" hype - you should run your own bookkeeping system even if very basic, keep abreast of any HMRC news - eg last years P35 form shenanigans - and check what your accountant is doing for you. Although to be fair on NW that applies to all accountants!
This is particularly important at your year end, remember as director you are responsible for signing off your accounts at Companies House not your accountant.

**w3bdEw** · 31 July 2008, 11:05

Originally posted by blacjac View Post

2 years free Business Banking with HSBC

Thank for good points, particularly HSBC one.
I think they are offering 18 months free to anybody online.

Will look into it.

**w3bdEw** · 31 July 2008, 11:09

Originally posted by moorfield View Post

Call me picky but NW do have a monthly expenses and mileage spreadsheet you need to complete, do they not?

And be wary of the "leave it all to us" hype - you should run your own bookkeeping system even if very basic, keep abreast of any HMRC news - eg last years P35 form shenanigans - and check what your accountant is doing for you. Although to be fair on NW that applies to all accountants!
This is particularly important at your year end, remember as director you are responsible for signing off your accounts at Companies House not your accountant.

I do realise that and will make use of your advice. I am OK to fill in a monthly spreadsheet. Slightly off-topic I have read people complaining about SJD spreadsheet. Is it a totally different thing (complex / frequent)?

**pmeswani** · 31 July 2008, 12:02

Originally posted by w3bdEw View Post

NW are offering me following services (looks that is all I need, or am I missing something). Other I have looked into are charging extra for one or more services from below:

**** Remove content at poster's request ****

Don't want to sound rude, but this almost sounds like free advertising for NW. Can I assume that you don't work for them?

About to go with Nixon Williams