Pcg

[DaveB]

My membership is up for renewal but I don't think I'll bother with the PCGPlus level again - the PAYE Audit stuff shouldn't be a problem if you use a decent accountant and the Jury Service stuff you can either remove yourself from the electoral roll or just ignore the summons if it ever arrives.

Not a good idea. Not registering on the electoral roll is a criminal offense in it's own right as is deliberately ignoring a jury summons and both can land you with a £1000 fine and a crimnal record to boot.

There is a good chance they won't catch up with you for the electoral roll, but why take the chance for the sake of a few quid a year.

[Denny]

Hi All,

I think I want to join.

I was thinking yesterday, what with all this IR35 stuff....we kind of expect them to fight this for us...yet most of us don't join and pay any fees towards it.

I'm starting to feel ashamed.

Who here is a member? And who wouldn't bother? (And who is like me, and thinking of joining?) (I'll do a poll).

Also, if someone could provide a link for me, that would save me the excuse of saying "It was too difficult - I didn't know where to go"...

Cheers,
Sal
xxx

I think you are confusing PCG membership with having adequate insurance, which is the only thing that you need. Qdos also offer an insurance package.

Personally, I don't rate the PCG as a member. The helplines offer little more than you would get from phoning up tax and legal specialists independently (they don't look at paperwork, only give arbitrary advice based on hypothetical scenarios). The discounted supplier benefits are also questionable because their reduced member premiums are still often higher than you could get on the open market. I tested this out with private health insurance and BUPA were certainly not the cheapest or the best. You still need to shop around.

The PCG promose a lot but don't deliver a great deal, from what I read on the fora. There was some talk about going to the LSE to do paper on some of the issues that have arisen on ir35, but no word whether this was done or not.

The fora are not that good either. There's too many of them and most of the serious thread topics are interrupted by pointless banter which is annoying and timewasting. At least on here, you know where to look for serious responses from the trivia and fun. On there you don't know what you're opening.

Join if you must, but consider what you are actually getting for your money.

[Board Game Geek]

As someone that plays computer games during the majority of their existence you should fit in perfectly.

Oh ha ha.

Actually, I've just been doing some work and decided to have a break on the forums. Is that ok with you ?

[oracleslave]

Is that ok with you ?

[Denny]

The only time I would consider joining, is when the PCG become the equivalent of the Royal Society of Chartered Surveyors. with true political clout to elevate the IT profession, protect the workforce, etc.

All I can see is a 6th form BBC Micro computer club for nerds.

What is a professional contractor anyway?

[Ardesco]

I'm a member for the insurances. I occasionally check in on the forums to see if anybody has some direct work I could do, but I've never come across anything when I hav been free yet.

I would probably use the forums if they had better software, current forums are dire. They need to get vBulletin sorted out ASAP!!

[Archangel]

Has anyone been investigated by HMRC and sought the services of PCG/Insurance they provide? What was your experience?

I was investigated and used the PCG insurance. It was very reassuring to have the backing of professionals (QDOS at that time) and to not have to worry about their fee! (of course I was found outside).

[VectraMan]

Well I've just renewed and upgraded to PCG Plus whilst I was at it. It seems they've added insurance against an agency going bust, which I felt was worth having.

I agree though: they leave a lot to be desired and aren't really what they pretend to be, and the fact the founders used it as their own personal cash cow in the early days doesn't suprise me.

[Mailman]

Hi All,

I think I want to join.

I was thinking yesterday, what with all this IR35 stuff....we kind of expect them to fight this for us...yet most of us don't join and pay any fees towards it.

I'm starting to feel ashamed.

Who here is a member? And who wouldn't bother? (And who is like me, and thinking of joining?) (I'll do a poll).

Also, if someone could provide a link for me, that would save me the excuse of saying "It was too difficult - I didn't know where to go"...

Cheers,
Sal
xxx

Well these are the same bunch of twots who have ensured Agents can still bend you over an apple cart all thanks to their insistance that the opt out clause be inserted in to the regs!

For that, these guys get sweet f8ck all from me!

F8cking numpties!

Mailman

ps. happy new year everyone

[NotAllThere]

Well these are the same bunch of twots who have ensured Agents can still bend you over an apple cart all thanks to their insistance that the opt out clause be inserted in to the regs!

Except of course it transpires that most of you are opted in anyway...

You forgot to mention that they're the same bunch that have encouraged the government to bring in Income Shifting legislation. They wouldn't let it lie.