PCG...Good or Bad?

[dx4100]

The insurance is worth it alone...you also get discounts on contract reviews etc...

Fighting IR35...ok they have not won that battle but at least someone is fighting for us....

[Ruse]

Some good and some bad.

But can the detractors tell me who else is out there campaigning for contractors rights ? A lot of good work has been done in last few years around getting IT off the list of skills shortages for immigration and attempting to stop ICT's.

I won't go into the bad here, but I think a lot of it has been cleaned up, although the cronyism continues.

Yes they will provide a lot of assistance on an investigation, although I have been lucky enough not to have to call on it.

[nomadd]

Bit of an open ended question here...

What do people think of the PCG? Is it worthwhile joining? Would they be of genuine help if I was audited/investigated by Her Majesty's finest?

Cheers
Rup

Never bothered myself. And most of the contractors I know who once did bother, don't any more. My accountant has had around a dozen of his contractors "investigated" by HRMC; he always deals with these in conjunction with AccountTax. Has a 100% success record so far, so that's the route I'll take in the unlikely event I get my collar felt (BTW: in the 20 years I've been contracting, I've had two tax inspections by HMRC, both of which passed without any issues. And yes, I operate outside of IR35.)

Nomadd

[scooby]

i dont overly use the forum, but had to claim for jury duty last month. No messing, quickly sorted. the only thing i had to do was chase the insurance people to find out if ok (as i forgot to send the correct docs in the first place).

the dealing with PCG staff have been swifted, always returned calls when they said they would, and generally top notch (and uk based...).

This is my 2nd year with them, and will be signing up next year.

[BrilloPad]

Bit of an open ended question here...

What do people think of the PCG? Is it worthwhile joining? Would they be of genuine help if I was audited/investigated by Her Majesty's finest?

Cheers
Rup

You should join and report back.

I joined and did not regret it. But the forums are not as good as cuk.....

[rootsnall]

At the risk of sounding sarcastic, try a search for threads with 'PCG' in the title. This is the 61st such thread.

Edit: OK, I'll help:

Mar '09 "is PCG worth it"

Aug '08 "PCG.org.uk - Worth the money?"

May '06 "PCG - worth joining?"

Most of us are here to waste time. If we couldn't go over old ground we are stuffed !

[rootsnall]

I was also considering joining can someone else also assist by leaving their experience / comments?

You get the IR35 investigation insurance included ( and NI investigation insurance for PCG+ ), you'd have to decide if you want/need it and then compare prices.

And you get the legal helpline which I found OK(ish) a couple of times, for one particular issue it wasn't good enough but after talking to the PCG directly I was put in contact with someone who proved useful.

You also get some lobbying, which seems pretty well aligned with my interests. I'm not sure any other body is doing this. So I guess you are helping the cause here rather than taking the I'm alright jack option. Some of the more recent newsletters seem to be wandering off track from straight IT contractor issues.

So I'd say it's worth the money.

[malvolio]

But if you do, note how many time Mr Cranium's views are either at odds with everyone else's, or based on outdated and totally incorrect information...

They are a mature and highy respected trade body. They will protect you from investigations and help you out totally if you get into one. They represent you very effectively in Whitehall and are starting to make inroads into Industry generally. They aren't perfect by any means - too slow, too dogmatic, sometimes too parochial - but they are all we've got on our side.

As for "ten years of failure", this is clearly an interpretation of "failure" with which I am not immediately familiar. The only "failure" is to fail to kill IR35 (although it has been neutralised for those who want to take the trouble to do so), but as long as Gay Gorgon's clowns are in command, there is no chance in hell of that ever happeneing. Of course, when said clowns get kicked out, PCG will be ready to take advantage.

[TheFaQQer]

Would they be of genuine help if I was audited/investigated by Her Majesty's finest?

Well, you have insurance that provides up to £75k towards investigation costs, so one would hope so.

If, however, you are blatantly inside IR35, knew you would be but just tried it on, and were being investigated, then I would expect their insurers to push for a speedy resolution (not in your favour).

[RichardCranium]

I was also considering joining can someone else also assist by leaving their experience / comments?

At the risk of sounding sarcastic, try a search for threads with 'PCG' in the title. This is the 61st such thread.

Edit: OK, I'll help:

Mar '09 "is PCG worth it"

Aug '08 "PCG.org.uk - Worth the money?"

May '06 "PCG - worth joining?"

[Hotlatte]

I was also considering joining can someone else also assist by leaving their experience / comments?

[RichardCranium]

PCG...Good or Bad?

Bad.

What do people think of the PCG?

Ten years of failure and some questions about where all the money has gone.

Is it worthwhile joining?

I thought so some years ago. Then thought otherwise some years later.

Would they be of genuine help if I was audited/investigated by Her Majesty's finest?

Don't know, but one should hope so!

[cojak]

I like to think so..

[Rupert]

Bit of an open ended question here...

What do people think of the PCG? Is it worthwhile joining? Would they be of genuine help if I was audited/investigated by Her Majesty's finest?

Cheers
Rup