Reply to: Umbrella Companies which pay into my own SIPP (AJ Bell)

[lucyclarityumbrella]

Does anyone have any idea which umbrellas offer the DD option (which also do salary sacrifice are FSCS accredited and dont have any daft restrictions preventing carry forward from prior years allowances)?

Generally paying by DD holds too many risks; if the umbrella is not paid by the agency or client, then they are not going to be willing to release funds.

[MrC]

With AJ Bell you can contribute in 2 ways:

1) Direct Debit - fill in a form once for a fixed amount and forget about it

2) Each month if the employer contribution is likely to fluctuate - you have to send an email to AJ Bell detailing the amount and making a declaration that it is an Employer contribution etc. The Umbrella then pays it to AJ Bell via BACs

Some Umbrellas are happy to do the DD method, but if your contribution changes every month then the one-off declaration has to be made with each payment which is paid by the Umbrella via BACs.

Currently Parasol uses the BACs method so they send me the email draft which i then forward onto AJ Bell. Takes no time at all.

Ah, thanks for clarifying. I had reached the conclusion that most if not all umbrellas were only willing to pay by BACs.

Does anyone have any idea which umbrellas offer the DD option (which also do salary sacrifice are FSCS accredited and dont have any daft restrictions preventing carry forward from prior years allowances)?

[eek]

Also, Focused group (part of Paystream) charge £250 p.a. for sal sacrifice but allow you to use any pension provider as long as they can accept D/D payments and provide a well written scheme brochure incl Q&As, conditions for stopping etc which if this element is important to you, indicates the extra service may be worth the fee.

£250 is an interesting fee figure - it’s doesn’t sound right (given how it should be charged).

Whether it’s reasonable or not depends on what their other charges are and whether it’s reasonable when you compare it to other umbrellas that provide it within their standard fee

[gizzmo]

With AJ Bell you can contribute in 2 ways:

1) Direct Debit - fill in a form once for a fixed amount and forget about it

2) Each month if the employer contribution is likely to fluctuate - you have to send an email to AJ Bell detailing the amount and making a declaration that it is an Employer contribution etc. The Umbrella then pays it to AJ Bell via BACs

Some Umbrellas are happy to do the DD method, but if your contribution changes every month then the one-off declaration has to be made with each payment which is paid by the Umbrella via BACs.

Currently Parasol uses the BACs method so they send me the email draft which i then forward onto AJ Bell. Takes no time at all.

[MrC]

Just following up on this can anyone who pays into their SIPP with AJ Bell confirm if it's totally set-and-forget?

Umbrella i've been speaking to say it is whearas AJ Bell themselves say they need an email to accompany every single BACS contribution (even if it's a regular amount).

[rickmeister]

Also, Focused group (part of Paystream) charge £250 p.a. for sal sacrifice but allow you to use any pension provider as long as they can accept D/D payments and provide a well written scheme brochure incl Q&As, conditions for stopping etc which if this element is important to you, indicates the extra service may be worth the fee.

[rickmeister]

Parasol let you fund any other pension without an 'admin fee' some charge, but they have a bad rep on some posts on here for admin errors. Danbro let you move to others if on their approved list (am trying to obtain), but are showing £5k to auto enrolment and balance to third party, meaning they split your pension, hardly convenient.

[gizzmo]

I have an AJ Bell Sipp and I am with Parasol. They pay into my AJ Bell SIPP

[drob1984]

The only 2 I am aware of that allow you to do this fully are paystream and nasagroup.

[northernladuk]

Fair enough, but that is the only "restriction" I have been informed of, so I guess my agency will work with pretty much any umbrella.

Erm.. no. Only ones that are FCSA registered. You just said it yourself and two of us have just told you that's a pretty big restriction.

Time for you to pull the FCSA list and ring around to find one you want.

You can try searching on here using the google method. <keywords> site:contractoruk.com/forums
Try a couple of the names and see if they've been discussed on here. If you use <name> pension site:etc it will narrow it down.

[bazuzu]

Fair enough, but that is the only "restriction" I have been informed of, so I guess my agency will work with pretty much any umbrella.

[northernladuk]

No restrictions from the agency, as long as they are FCSA accredited.

That's like saying you can have any colour you want as long as it's black.

[eek]

No restrictions from the agency, as long as they are FCSA accredited.

That's a large restriction, FCSA is a worthless old boys club that just means you are paying more.

[bazuzu]

No restrictions from the agency, as long as they are FCSA accredited.

[eek]

What restrictions does your agency impose on your choice of umbrella company?