Is there an umbrella company where you can choose your pension and other benefits?

[JamesC34]

Hi GDL

If you are looking at Pensions, then you would have to use the Group Pension Scheme operated by the chosen umbrella. You can only gain the salary sacrifice element if you use their provider. If you are looking to make payments into an existing pension scheme you would then have to declare these via self-assessment but I think this then means that won't gain the NI benefit. As for other benefits, nowadays via a brolly this is very limited, to pensions, childcare vouchers and GAYE... Best benefit you will get from a brolly is how well they will look after you

If you want a chat - do let me know!

Hi Lucy,
I would like to chat about this option please. Who is your pension provider?

[lucyclarityumbrella]

Hi Lucy,
I would like to chat about this option please. Who is your pension provider?

Scottish Widows - for more info click here.

[simes1]

DANBRO will do it.

Can pay what you want into pension scheme as salary sacrifice so savings on NI and tax. They also do salary sacrifice childcare vouchers.

Also, only £17 a week.

Strange - Danbro told me I could save employee tax and NI but not employer NI. I'm used to being able to control the employer contributions (100%Er/0%Ee or 99%Er/1%Ee but Atlantic have said this will not be possible after a change of pension provider (Scottish Widows -> The Nest) and the implementation of a new payroll system.

I've yet to find anyone else that definitely does this - are you sure Danbro allows you to reclaim the employer NI? Perhaps only on the statutory auto-enrolment employer minimum contribution?

[psychocandy]

Strange - Danbro told me I could save employee tax and NI but not employer NI. I'm used to being able to control the employer contributions (100%Er/0%Ee or 99%Er/1%Ee but Atlantic have said this will not be possible after a change of pension provider (Scottish Widows -> The Nest) and the implementation of a new payroll system.

I've yet to find anyone else that definitely does this - are you sure Danbro allows you to reclaim the employer NI? Perhaps only on the statutory auto-enrolment employer minimum contribution?

Well Im paying employer contributions via danbro....

Avoid danbro at the moment. They made a monumental **** up a few months ago and havent recovered yet.

[simes1]

ER/EE split irrelevant with salary-exchange pension contributions?

Well Im paying employer contributions via danbro....

Avoid danbro at the moment. They made a monumental **** up a few months ago and havent recovered yet.

Thanks for the warning re Danbro.

There's an additional wrinkle I'd not appreciated when I first posted. Some umbrella companies appear to use salary-exchange for pension's deductions (Atlantic and Crystal do not) and when this is the case the ER/EE split appears to be irrelevant as far as tax reduction is concerned as both contributions reduce the ER NI. Danbro appears to be one of these, Contractor Umbrella is another, I can't get a straight answer out of Parasol.

Out of interest what is the ratio between your current Danbro ER and EE contributions? [The income assessment for a means-tested bursary for my son appears to be reduced by ER pension contributions but not EE ones so it's still relevant for me.]