Originally posted by Sue at IPAYE
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Opus bestpay umbrella - do not use it! It's highly toxic!!!!!
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Last edited by madame SasGuru; 20 February 2018, 15:10. -
I don't see why CUK does not run simple [and free] background checks before listing agencies or umbrellas.
I digged a little bit, it cost me nothing and it became quickly apparent there is something dodgy. It only took me the best part of 60 minutes to do the checks.
For example, the Director of Opus BestPay is Andrew Sacco. He is coincidentally the director of the Trust Shop, which is located in Malta. The Trust Shop is mentioned in the contracts/loan agreement set up.
There is a lot more, found in Companies House [Company Check service].Comment
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Originally posted by whattheheck View PostI don't see why CUK does not run simple [and free] background checks before listing agencies or umbrellas.
I digged a little bit, it cost me nothing and it became quickly apparent there is something dodgy. It only took me the best part of 60 minutes to do the checks.
For example, the Director of Opus BestPay is Andrew Sacco. He is coincidentally the director of the Trust Shop, which is located in Malta. The Trust Shop is mentioned in the contracts/loan agreement set up.
There is a lot more, found in Companies House [Company Check service]."I can put any old tat in my sig, put quotes around it and attribute to someone of whom I've heard, to make it sound true."
- Voltaire/Benjamin Franklin/Anne Frank...Comment
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Originally posted by whattheheck View PostI don't see why CUK does not run simple [and free] background checks before listing agencies or umbrellas.
I digged a little bit, it cost me nothing and it became quickly apparent there is something dodgy. It only took me the best part of 60 minutes to do the checks.
For example, the Director of Opus BestPay is Andrew Sacco. He is coincidentally the director of the Trust Shop, which is located in Malta. The Trust Shop is mentioned in the contracts/loan agreement set up.
There is a lot more, found in Companies House [Company Check service].…Maybe we ain’t that young anymoreComment
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Originally posted by whattheheck View PostThe Trust Shop is mentioned in the contracts/loan agreement set up.
There is a lot more, found in Companies House [Company Check service].
I should point out that you took out a loan even though all the free advice freely available on this forum clearly tells you to be very wary of schemes like that.…Maybe we ain’t that young anymoreComment
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Originally posted by WTFH View PostTell you what, you tell us the agent who forced you to use them and then we can start a list of agents who are recommending dodgy umbrellas.Comment
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Originally posted by whattheheck View PostI have just signed up to a new contract, the agency suggested OPUS BESTPAY. I asked to have a bog standard pay arrangement, NI and taxed as usual, plus a weekly fee. They declined and pushed the "LOAN AGREEMENT" scheme forward. I signed up! I did, even though I don't like it. And I did it because I need my pay, I can't live on fresh air, FFS!
I'm fairly sure from reading this thread that it's obvious that the fault of this is with CUK and cojak in particularComment
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Originally posted by TheFaQQer View PostINKSPE"I can put any old tat in my sig, put quotes around it and attribute to someone of whom I've heard, to make it sound true."
- Voltaire/Benjamin Franklin/Anne Frank...Comment
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Just to bring this thread back to life – I still see some potentially questionable listings under the PAID FOR ‘Umbrella Companies’ section on this site. Would you believe it Bestpaymentservices.co.uk which were called out back in February on this thread, disappeared over night shortly after…who would have guessed that?!?!
Last time ContractorUK were called out for listing potentially dodgy operators in their paid listing they stated “Cheers guys. We do our best to ensure that services on the umbrella listings are your standard PAYE type services. We have knocked back many requests for the 90% style take home schemes and will continue to do so - so be aware that we do check all companies before listing them. Will have a look at this in more detail and will post again shortly.”
No conclusive evidence but certainly a lot of indications telling me your checks are potentially still not up to scratch. A number of the listings in your paid directory appear to be new umbrellas all registered in the last 2 years with near identical website layouts and documentation (based on my web experience it certainly looks to me they are all run by the same operator – indeed some share the same company directors etc). By and large the only new umbrellas to start up in the last two years have been dodgy ones taking advantage of the IR35 situation or those looking to distance themselves from past identities….just saying. Funnily enough some of the domains share domain registration similarities to guess who….bestpay.co.uk and bestpaymentservices.co.uk. It’s almost like they keep changing their identity for some reason…
The cherry on the cake…One of the operators clearly states on their website ‘Improve your take-home pay’ – *alarm bells*. Your checks are obviously not fit for purpose if simple stuff like that is not being picked up on.Comment
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