Umbrella interpretation of pay period for NI!

[MPwannadecentincome]

The problem now is how to check I wont have this problem with another agency, before I switch to them!

Just ask them - they are human beings too.

[beaker141]

IMHO the brolly is wrong. If your pay covered 3 weeks then they should have allocated 3 weeks worth of NI allowances. That is std PAYE proceesing. Seems to me like they have either messed up or their systems for processing are pants. Name and shame them and then move on to someone who processes it properly.

Thanks. I am switching to a monthly service with them for now, whilst I consider where to switch to - I thought that by using one of the big companies everything would be right.

This must catch lots of people out without them realising it Im sure, I just dont then see the logic of placing a processing lock, as soon as you dont get a payroll run for a week you have lost out on NI allowances!

The problem now is how to check I wont have this problem with another agency, before I switch to them!

[Zippy]

Thanks Churchill. I must have had a funny turn when I posted

[Churchill]

I agree with xtrain. Call the HMRC helpline and ask them if this is correct (they are actually robbing bastards who deserve to be hung/drawn/quartered and then hung again!)

FTFY!

[Zippy]

I agree with xtrain. Call the HMRC helpline and ask them if this is correct (they are actually helpful)

[Churchill]

Birds carrying things? Don't start, you'll have Cybertwunt spinning in his (virtual) grave.

The swallows brought them!

1st soldier with a keen interest in birds: Who goes there?
King Arthur: It is I, Arthur, son of Uther Pendragon, from the castle of Camelot. King of the Britons, defeater of the Saxons, Sovereign of all England!
1st soldier with a keen interest in birds: Pull the other one!
King Arthur: I am, and this is my trusty servant Patsy. We have ridden the length and breadth of the land in search of knights who will join me in my court at Camelot. I must speak with your lord and master.
1st soldier with a keen interest in birds: What? Ridden on a horse?
King Arthur: Yes!
1st soldier with a keen interest in birds: You're using coconuts!
King Arthur: What?
1st soldier with a keen interest in birds: You've got two empty halves of coconut and you're bangin' 'em together.
King Arthur: So? We have ridden since the snows of winter covered this land, through the kingdom of Mercia, through...
1st soldier with a keen interest in birds: Where'd you get the coconuts?
King Arthur: We found them.
1st soldier with a keen interest in birds: Found them? In Mercia? The coconut's tropical!
King Arthur: What do you mean?
1st soldier with a keen interest in birds: Well, this is a temperate zone
King Arthur: The swallow may fly south with the sun or the house martin or the plover may seek warmer climes in winter, yet these are not strangers to our land?
1st soldier with a keen interest in birds: Are you suggesting coconuts migrate?
King Arthur: Not at all. They could be carried.
1st soldier with a keen interest in birds: What? A swallow carrying a coconut?
King Arthur: It could grip it by the husk!
1st soldier with a keen interest in birds: It's not a question of where he grips it! It's a simple question of weight ratios! A five ounce bird could not carry a one pound coconut.
King Arthur: Well, it doesn't matter. Will you go and tell your master that Arthur from the Court of Camelot is here?
1st soldier with a keen interest in birds: Listen. In order to maintain air-speed velocity, a swallow needs to beat its wings forty-three times every second, right?
King Arthur: Please!
1st soldier with a keen interest in birds: Am I right?

[Xtrain]

Ni

IMHO the brolly is wrong. If your pay covered 3 weeks then they should have allocated 3 weeks worth of NI allowances. That is std PAYE proceesing. Seems to me like they have either messed up or their systems for processing are pants. Name and shame them and then move on to someone who processes it properly.

[Moscow Mule]

I use carrier pigeons.

Birds carrying things? Don't start, you'll have Cybertwunt spinning in his (virtual) grave.

[malvolio]

Mine goes in by fax, and I get a pretty much immediate auto-email back to say it's arrived and another to say it's been processed. If either email doesn't appear the agent gets a call PDQ.

And that's with one of the really big international agencies. Clearly, "if it works don't fix it" is their approach.

[NickFitz]

I have timesheets signed weekly, faxed to the agency, and then fill in and submit a weekly timesheet with the umbrella - which then raises an invoice for that weeks work to the agency - I had a few problems with the agency, they claim to have not received my timesheets, such that when payment was made from them to the umbrella there were 3 weekly amounts bundled together as 1 amount.

Wow, fax - it doesn't surprise me to find an agency still living in the early 1990s, but it always amuses me

When you fax your timesheet through (you do do that yourself? - don't trust anyone else to do it) follow it up with a call to your agent requesting (i.e. demanding) confirmation that it's been received. If they can't confirm receipt, fax it again, and keep on phoning and faxing until they beg you to stop

After a couple of weeks of this you'll probably find them calling you (or possibly emailing you, if their abacuses have been upgraded) as soon as they receive the first fax, in a desperate attempt to prevent the deluge.

P.S. You should probably have posted this in Business/Contracts - don't be too surprised if the morning brings a flood of replies from the trolls and inadequates who habitually hang out here in General, none of which are likely to offer anything other than vulgar abuse. Just ignore them, but for the future you should bear in mind that serious questions only tend to get treated seriously in Business/Contracts, Accounting/Legal, and Technical. General is a sewer, but the other forums can be extremely helpful. Oddly enough, some of the people who will heap the most abuse on you here in General will also be extremely helpful in the other three places.

[Churchill]

Hi,

I am a first time contractor, using an umbrella company for now. I thought I understood everything but NI (EER and EEE) has caught me out and I wondered if anyone could advise.

I have timesheets signed weekly, faxed to the agency, and then fill in and submit a weekly timesheet with the umbrella - which then raises an invoice for that weeks work to the agency - I had a few problems with the agency, they claim to have not received my timesheets, such that when payment was made from them to the umbrella there were 3 weekly amounts bundled together as 1 amount.

The umbrella, I am on weekly uservice, then processed the payment and paid me - good so far, but when I looked into the calcs properly, they have processed it as 1 weeks pay, and hence only given me 1 week of EER NI and EE NI tax free allowances, ie the £110 for EER NI etc.

I have challenged this with them and they have said this is how it works, it is correct and HMRC are happy with it - I thought of course they are, they are getting more money from me unnecessarily!

My expectation was that they would look at what timesheets/invoices/payments are being processed, recognise it is 3 weeks and apply 3 weeks allowances , ie 3*110.

I then cannot grasp the point of the account lock feature - every time you lock and skip a weeks pay and bundle it into another you cost yourself extra NI.

I am not bothered about the PAYE - because it is cumulative that can be sorted out, but NI isnt, and now I can never get that lost allowance back.

I have been stung twice now, and I am thinking of changing to a different Umbrella, but not sure if they all work like this.

Can anyone impart their experiences in this area to help me?

At least you won't get caught that way again, eh? You've got off pretty lightly.

Roll on the next invoice. In real terms it's pennies. Some you win, some you lose - once.

[beaker141]

Hi,

I am a first time contractor, using an umbrella company for now. I thought I understood everything but NI (EER and EEE) has caught me out and I wondered if anyone could advise.

I have timesheets signed weekly, faxed to the agency, and then fill in and submit a weekly timesheet with the umbrella - which then raises an invoice for that weeks work to the agency - I had a few problems with the agency, they claim to have not received my timesheets, such that when payment was made from them to the umbrella there were 3 weekly amounts bundled together as 1 amount.

The umbrella, I am on weekly uservice, then processed the payment and paid me - good so far, but when I looked into the calcs properly, they have processed it as 1 weeks pay, and hence only given me 1 week of EER NI and EE NI tax free allowances, ie the £110 for EER NI etc.

I have challenged this with them and they have said this is how it works, it is correct and HMRC are happy with it - I thought of course they are, they are getting more money from me unnecessarily!

My expectation was that they would look at what timesheets/invoices/payments are being processed, recognise it is 3 weeks and apply 3 weeks allowances , ie 3*110.

I then cannot grasp the point of the account lock feature - every time you lock and skip a weeks pay and bundle it into another you cost yourself extra NI.

I am not bothered about the PAYE - because it is cumulative that can be sorted out, but NI isnt, and now I can never get that lost allowance back.

I have been stung twice now, and I am thinking of changing to a different Umbrella, but not sure if they all work like this.

Can anyone impart their experiences in this area to help me?