Reply to: Yet Another Newbie With Questions (YANWQ)

[williamdavis]

Yep Cater Allan have been great and I'm sure santander are well chuffed at the moment, Lewis Hamilton is doing very well thank you.

[TheFaQQer]

IIRC don't Abbey own Cater Allen?

I believe that Banco Santander own them all.

[BA to the Stars]

IIRC don't Abbey own Cater Allen?

Yes, that is correct

[Pondlife]

IIRC don't Abbey own Cater Allen?

[williamdavis]

Wow they really have been good to you.

Obviously my experience of Abbey (albeit on the personal banking side) has genuinely been very poor. Maybe, the substandard service I received was a one off and the people involved just had bad days. However, I did raise a complaint, they recognised my complaint and have now sent three letters to me saying it’s taking them longer than they first thought and would I now like to take my complaint up with the banking ombudsman (no of course not, it was three months ago and I can’t be bothered, I just want a letter from Abbey saying they are sorry and they made a mistake, that’s all).

I’ve been banking with Abbey for over 20 years (in fact they were my first ever employer) and I have seen standards slowly slip. For me, the collapse happened when they moved their call centre out of the UK. I am aware that parts have been moved back now and the call centre op's are improving (I’m not sure if the Business Banking side is supported in or out of the UK).

Everybody makes mistakes, it’s how they are resolved that’s important, and for this has yet to happen, hence my reply about their poor service. I am quite willing to accept that there are 100’s of thousands if not millions of satisfied customers, but I’m just not one at the moment.

[max]

Oh really and where does it say "forever"? You know "forever" is a long time, it's not just till the end of next week. I don't think you'd get a bank saying "forever", ever.

And Cater Allen are only for business I think, could be wrong about that, but they do offer a good interest rates and have always offered free banking.

If Abbey are so rubbish on their personal banking I see no reason why they wouldn't be rubbish with business accounts. Why take the gamble? Loads of people offer free banking.

Do you bank with Abbey?

http://www.anbusiness.com/

I quote:

How free is
your business banking?

Take a look at Abbey’s Business Bank Account
Direct debits, standing orders and bill payments FREE forever
Debit card payments FREE forever
BACS credit FREE forever
Transfers between linked Abbey accounts FREE forever

100 cheque deposits per month FREE forever
100 cash and cheque withdrawals per month FREE forever
£3,000 in cash deposited per month FREE forever

Many of our competitors business bank accounts are only free for a short time, or require a minimum balance.
We only charge you for non-standard services, for details of these charges click here.
Or if you exceed our transaction limits.
The rest is free. Forever.

Do you bank with Abbey?

Yes...been with them for 5+ years. Honestly say...never had a glitch with them.

Paid 0 in fees, and been paid a bunch of interest.

For a while I was using their time deposit facility. Every month they'd call me to see what I wanted to do for the next month.

Great service..no.. outstanding service.

[williamdavis]

The original poster was asking about Business Accounts

They offer free business banking "forever"

Get it?

Oh really and where does it say "forever"? You know "forever" is a long time, it's not just till the end of next week. I don't think you'd get a bank saying "forever", ever.

And Cater Allen are only for business I think, could be wrong about that, but they do offer a good interest rates and have always offered free banking.

If Abbey are so rubbish on their personal banking I see no reason why they wouldn't be rubbish with business accounts. Why take the gamble? Loads of people offer free banking.

Do you bank with Abbey?

[Bluebird]

Bauer & Cottrell

[too_many_details]

B&c?

[malvolio]

I have been through the first timer guides but of course there are scenarios it does not quite explain fully.

In relation to IR35 for instance, the guide talks about what it is and the legislation. It infers that the contract wording is important and is under the contractors control (the Inland Revenue is going to investigate you, not the agency). What I'm hearing through is that the agency will come up with the contract and it is up to you to have it checked by QDOS. So what if QDOS say its inside? What can i do? Do i have to be an expert lawyer to know how to change the wording? Is this something that can delay the process of securing a contract? How amenable are agencies/clients to changes to the contract?

As for the Abbey, they are currently promoting no business fees ever. Perhaps it s just a marketing gimmick because the volume of transactions thats likely is usually low and would not incur fees and they've decided to just increase the level at which they will charge.

I'll go with Carter Allen (via Nixon Williams) if anyone has experience of using them and has not had to pay and charges.

Cheers

R

If it was cut and dried, IR35 would be simple. If B&C say it's fully inside, no hope of redemtpion, then that's it. However, they are more likely to say "if we can get these clauses changed..." and you are now in a defensible out-of-IR35 position, which for 90% of people is the best they can hope for. And B&C will negotiate any changes on your behalf with the agency.

I won't begin to go into why the agency/client and agency/contractor contracts should match and all the other horrors that trap the unwary though...

None of which exempts you from understanding the legislation nor the key elements that put you outside it - D&C, MOO and RoS (and if you don't know what they are, it would be a good idea to find out). If you are going to stay contracting, you must understand how it all works, since only you are responsible for your actions.

[too_many_details]

I have been through the first timer guides but of course there are scenarios it does not quite explain fully.

In relation to IR35 for instance, the guide talks about what it is and the legislation. It infers that the contract wording is important and is under the contractors control (the Inland Revenue is going to investigate you, not the agency). What I'm hearing through is that the agency will come up with the contract and it is up to you to have it checked by QDOS. So what if QDOS say its inside? What can i do? Do i have to be an expert lawyer to know how to change the wording? Is this something that can delay the process of securing a contract? How amenable are agencies/clients to changes to the contract?

As for the Abbey, they are currently promoting no business fees ever. Perhaps it s just a marketing gimmick because the volume of transactions thats likely is usually low and would not incur fees and they've decided to just increase the level at which they will charge.

I'll go with Carter Allen (via Nixon Williams) if anyone has experience of using them and has not had to pay and charges.

Cheers

R

[Bluebird]

Goodprint are good and they print.

No seriously - good quality and quite resonable..

[r0bly0ns]

I've used vistaprint for over a year now and have never been spammed by them....

[FiveTimes]

Letterheads/Business cards for account opening? never heard of it before ... Who do you currently bank with ? Open an account with them if you are happy with their service ... If you need letterheads, business cards etc - www.vistaprint.co.uk do a small number for free - you pay the postage only - typically less than 10 pounds. Else, open a HSBC Business Direct account .. The setup is relatively quick and they AFAIK, don't ask for letterheads etc.

HTH

Vistaprint are quick and cheap, but expect to be spammed to death from them....

[TheFaQQer]

3. Is IR35 insurance worth it?

Probably not - join the PCG though, and they will help fight any investigation that you may have.

Some on here will argue that paying QDOS is a no-brainer (£300 or so to cover tax investigations, plus any penalties); some will argue that it's a waste of money. It's an argument that has been done a number of times, and in the end, it's up to you whether you think the risk is worth the money.

For the record, I used to be firmly in favour of paying QDOS, but am moving towards the non-payment view.