PCG and QDOS IR35 coverage

[psychocandy]

Abbey is £160 + VAT; use the PCG website. Do that and you'll find Lawspeed from £85....

£175+VAT according to Abbey Tax for PCG members.

Point I'm making is :-

QDOS = £360 a year, no upfront contract review fee.

Abbey Tax = £300 a year, plus £175 for contract review fee up front. If you've got a few contracts in the year, could be expensive.

[psychocandy]

Abbey is £160 + VAT; use the PCG website. Do that and you'll find Lawspeed from £85....

Or QDOS for £0 if you but your PI insurance from them (cheapest anyway for this).

Am I missing something here? I dont know why you'd pay for these other services when it can be done via QDOS or is there something wrong with QDOS?

[malvolio]

Or QDOS for £0 if you but your PI insurance from them (cheapest anyway for this).

Am I missing something here? I dont know why you'd pay for these other services when it can be done via QDOS or is there something wrong with QDOS?

Nothing wrong with QDOS as far as I know.

Clearly if companies are charging significantly different amounts for what is essentially the same thing you need to be certain whether the cheaper one is more efficient or the more expensive one is covering other areas or a wider set of risks. Equally there's no point having a contract review if they sort IR35 but miss a glaring hole in the commercial clauses (not that I'm saying QDOS would do so, but you get the point).

Since you aren't going to need it anyway, you may as well go with the cheap option, but ensuring it covers what you think it does is up to you.

[psychocandy]

Nothing wrong with QDOS as far as I know.

Clearly if companies are charging significantly different amounts for what is essentially the same thing you need to be certain whether the cheaper one is more efficient or the more expensive one is covering other areas or a wider set of risks. Equally there's no point having a contract review if they sort IR35 but miss a glaring hole in the commercial clauses (not that I'm saying QDOS would do so, but you get the point).

Since you aren't going to need it anyway, you may as well go with the cheap option, but ensuring it covers what you think it does is up to you.

Abbey Tax is confusing. It seems you have to pay a contract review fee every time contract is renewed as well (£60).

And not that I totally understand but it seems the premium is per contract not per year (like QDOS). Could be expensive for 3x 3 month contracts in one year even for contract reviews.

But thinking about it - QDOS give you a questionnaire to fill in. Not being a contract expert you misinterpet and give QDOS incorrect advice. Then you claim. Hmmm?

PCG or similar cover - No brainer - you need someone to represent you.

Still not sure about this costs cover as well though. Sure someone said NO-ONE had been done by HMRC who had decent representation? Isn't it a bit like insuring your car when no-one has ever crashed their car!!!

[malvolio]

It's an insurance. You take it out on the basis of what you understand the risk to be and how risk averse you are.

As for the Abbey question, why would you want to review a renewal? And to be fair, £60 isn't all that much anyway, if you consider you're getting a couple of hours of somebody's expertise and a qualified response; after all, what's your hourly rate like?. Then offset that £60 agaisnt the likely tax difference on an average six month contract - probably £3k-£5k. It's not all that expensive in reality.

[psychocandy]

It's an insurance. You take it out on the basis of what you understand the risk to be and how risk averse you are.

As for the Abbey question, why would you want to review a renewal? And to be fair, £60 isn't all that much anyway, if you consider you're getting a couple of hours of somebody's expertise and a qualified response; after all, what's your hourly rate like?. Then offset that £60 agaisnt the likely tax difference on an average six month contract - probably £3k-£5k. It's not all that expensive in reality.

My point exactly about the renewal. You've got to HAVE it reviewed. It might not be a huge amount but still. £60 to look at a changed schedule with exact same contract as before?

Not arguing that Abbey is no good. If it was the only option then fair enough - just pointing out that QDOS appears to be way cheaper.

Of course, if Abbey was good and QDOS was crap then thats different again but opinion seems to be that QDOS are fine.

[psychocandy]

Been looking into this and I think I've got some idea of how it all works now.

QDOS - £360 a year and it covers all contracts in that year. However, drawback with this is you probably still need to pay for cover year after you ever stop contracting otherwise if you stop paying you cant claim.

Abbey Tax is different. You're covered for the actual contract not the time period. Even though you've got to pay for a year up front, if subsequent contracts are less than a year you only pay pro-rata premium.

Only problem is that every new contract/renewal attracts a contract review fee. Still not sure why this is needed - every contract renewal I've had is on the same terms but with different dates in the schedule.

Oh yes, and you've got to have PCG Plus as well not just standard PCG membership.

Also, current client is just offering 1 month renewals for now. £60 each time? hmmm.
Not huge in the grand scale of things but still....

[malvolio]

If you've got PCG Plus and pay attention you almost certainly don't need the extended cover anyway. But I suspect several people have already said that...

[Qdos Contractor]

QDOS - £360 a year and it covers all contracts in that year. However, drawback with this is you probably still need to pay for cover year after you ever stop contracting otherwise if you stop paying you cant claim.

But if you close your company down there's only a limited period in which HMRC can open an enquiry, so you'd only need it for a short time.

[psychocandy]

If you've got PCG Plus and pay attention you almost certainly don't need the extended cover anyway. But I suspect several people have already said that...

Im beginning to think that to be honest. Of course, like I think you already said, its an insurance and it depends whether you think you need it or not.

Didnt we do a poll on this a while back? i.e who had what?