Is it just me...

[Svalbaard]

Yawn...

Thought I should respond to this one...

Yes, Parasol have increased their charges for the second time in two years. The last increase was 10 months ago and the last one was 14 months before that. An email was sent to all contractors explaining the reason for the increase which is mainly due to the new insurance package and increases in NMW etc. So far, there has been negligable negative feedback from contractors and the increase has not had any impact on the number of leavers. I'm not going to blindly defend Parasol on the service issues but I will say that our business volumes increased hugely with other providers going through sticky times and their contractors coming over to Parasol. Resources have been put in place to deal with the increased business volumes that the demise of P4 has caused and hopefully your experiences will be much better now!

If you are struggling to get a particular tax question answered, PM me and I'll take it up on your behalf.

As far as live chat is concerned, I'm not sure why you think it has been offline - there have been no breaks in service this year and I see people using it every day and have done since I came here in April. Once again, PM me and I take your issues up.

Cheers

Nice work for towing the line Brollyman but I think I'll just vote with my feet and take my business elsewhere so I don't have to endure a repeat of the last "support" debacle which was a 2 week wait in response to a fairly straightforward tax enquiry.

And in answer your answer about the live support chat, it was indeed down since February and I have now been told by Parasol that it has now been axed permanently as apparently expecting a contractor to wait 15 minutes on the end of a telephone for a support consultant is deemed more "efficient"?

I'm presuming they mean "profitable" though taking into account the 0870 number.

[pisces]

I used them before they went I went LTD and felt the same. The service was getting worse and the cost went up something like 3 times in 18 months.

Either way go LTD. It's much better not having a third party playing with your money. 80 pound a month is far too much to produce an automated payslip and a BACS transfer. My accountant does a whole load more than that and for less money.

[Frantic Chicken]

Do you offer a fee structure that does not include insurance cover at £21m as I know that I would not need this mouch cover? I would therefore be paying extra for something that I do not need.

I am still unsure of the reason why the fee has increased because of the increase in NMW?

[brollyman]

If you are struggling to get a particular tax question answered, PM me and I'll take it up on your behalf.
==================

How about you answer this one.

Now that Parasol own Orange & Gold and because you have moved all the umbrella contractors from O&G into Parasol leaving the PSC's, could this mean that O&G might be seen as an MSC ?

If so if does this expose the Parasol Group ?

Keen to know your thoughts.

Jill x

Parasol do not own Orange And Gold! There is simply now an agreement between us and O&G that we will take their contractors who were on the C-Pro scheme and migrate them over to our NetPay Xtra arrangement. Their Limited Company offering has not changed.

The decision to raise our fees was not taken lightly and has been based on a combination of factors: We now offer a massive insurance package totalling £21million, we offer a guaranteed minimum hours contract to all of our contractors so the increase in NMW also puts upward pressure on fees. We are a business and as such have to make a profit which can be re-invested to improve service and evolve our offering. What is important to bear in mind is that we have only ever offered the same product which has evolved over time so none of our contractors have been affected by changes in legislation - unlike some other providers I could mention....

[Jill Wilson]

If you are struggling to get a particular tax question answered, PM me and I'll take it up on your behalf.
==================

How about you answer this one.

Now that Parasol own Orange & Gold and because you have moved all the umbrella contractors from O&G into Parasol leaving the PSC's, could this mean that O&G might be seen as an MSC ?

If so if does this expose the Parasol Group ?

Keen to know your thoughts.

Jill x

[Frantic Chicken]

Hi Brollyman. I don't understand your explanation for a price rise being "increase in NMW etc". What difference does the increase in NMW have on the Parasol weekly/monthly fee?

[brollyman]

Sorry Richard, the OP suggested that the Live Chat system had been inoperational since January which I know is definitely not the case. There may have been a couple of days outage but certainly not 9 month's worth!

It's quite sunny here in Warrington on Sea - about 22 degrees but I can see some clouds coming in over the railway sidings and the power station cooling towers!

[richard-af]

Sorry, I meant there's been no major downtime - it's certainly been up and running for 99% of the time since January.....

Then this makes no sense:
"As far as live chat is concerned, I'm not sure why you think it has been offline - there have been no breaks in service this year and I see people using it every day and have done since I came here in April. Once again, PM me and I take your issues up."

How's the weather in Warrington?

[brollyman]

Live Chat was, definitely, down for about 2 days (though maybe not continuously) within the last 6 weeks.

Sorry, I meant there's been no major downtime - it's certainly been up and running for 99% of the time since January.....

[richard-af]

Live Chat was, definitely, down for about 2 days (though maybe not continuously) within the last 6 weeks.

[brollyman]

Or has anybody else noticed these same things about Parasol...

1. They have jacked up their monthly payroll charges by about £20, to £80 in the last month without notice. They seem to have a have a habit of doing this.

2. Whilst charges have escalated, the service levels (both telephone and email support) are now abysmal - I have been chasing one fairly standard tax query for a month now with no impetus from Parasol to solve it.

3. The online "chat" supoprt feature which used to work so well in answering brief questions has now been inoperational since January despite repeated assurances that it will be "running again shortly".


Can anybody suggest a good alternative?

Thanks.

Thought I should respond to this one...

Yes, Parasol have increased their charges for the second time in two years. The last increase was 10 months ago and the last one was 14 months before that. An email was sent to all contractors explaining the reason for the increase which is mainly due to the new insurance package and increases in NMW etc. So far, there has been negligable negative feedback from contractors and the increase has not had any impact on the number of leavers. I'm not going to blindly defend Parasol on the service issues but I will say that our business volumes increased hugely with other providers going through sticky times and their contractors coming over to Parasol. Resources have been put in place to deal with the increased business volumes that the demise of P4 has caused and hopefully your experiences will be much better now!

If you are struggling to get a particular tax question answered, PM me and I'll take it up on your behalf.

As far as live chat is concerned, I'm not sure why you think it has been offline - there have been no breaks in service this year and I see people using it every day and have done since I came here in April. Once again, PM me and I take your issues up.

Cheers

[sathyaram_s]

If you are claiming only legal expenses from your umbrella, even if you are inside IR35, it is better to have your own company, which gives more control than an umbrella..

[boxman]

If you're outside IR35 or could/should be then the real cost of using a PAYE umbrella is a lot more than Parasol's fees.

Get yourself a decent accountant and get them to set up a company for you then sub everything out to the accountant to deal with. This will typically cost you about £100 per month all in. In return you get your own business, complete control over yourco's finances and the ability to draw dividends/salary as YOU see fit rather than an umbrella.

If you look at the poll on this forum about IR35 you'll see that 100% of current respondents are outside IR35. Look at www.pcg.org.uk for more details on their contractor support.

Control is king!

Rob

[Svalbaard]

Or has anybody else noticed these same things about Parasol...

1. They have jacked up their monthly payroll charges by about £20, to £80 in the last month without notice. They seem to have a have a habit of doing this.

2. Whilst charges have escalated, the service levels (both telephone and email support) are now abysmal - I have been chasing one fairly standard tax query for a month now with no impetus from Parasol to solve it.

3. The online "chat" supoprt feature which used to work so well in answering brief questions has now been inoperational since January despite repeated assurances that it will be "running again shortly".


Can anybody suggest a good alternative?

Thanks.