Any UC that can do Salary Sacrifice properly!

[gizzmo]

That was March - things may well have changed.

You are right - this is on their website for all to view. I will still check my specific SIPP (AJ Bell) before signing up though.

Existing Pension Provider: If you already have a private pension before joining Parasol, we can make contributions into your existing pension scheme provided the scheme is able to accept employer’s contributions. You will benefit from a reduction in employees NI and PAYE tax. We will also pass on the savings in employer’s national insurance.

[eek]

You are right - this is on their website for all to view. I will still check my specific SIPP (AJ Bell) before signing up though.

Existing Pension Provider: If you already have a private pension before joining Parasol, we can make contributions into your existing pension scheme provided the scheme is able to accept employer’s contributions. You will benefit from a reduction in employees NI and PAYE tax. We will also pass on the savings in employer’s national insurance.

Check how the umbrella does it - some will only do manual payments and won't allow direct debits which is a problem as some pension firms only accept direct debit contributions.

You probably won't have a problem but best to be prepared.

[rootsnall]

JSA umbrella let you pay a percentage of your gross into a SIPP up to 83% max. I was previously with Liberty Bishop, they also did variable amounts. Both into HL SIPP which I chose as they already had other contractors setup with them, I would think AJ Bell would be good to go also. No problems with either.

[gizzmo]

Check how the umbrella does it - some will only do manual payments and won't allow direct debits which is a problem as some pension firms only accept direct debit contributions.

You probably won't have a problem but best to be prepared.

Yes - Parasol have confirmed they do support employers contributions by direct debit and sent me an AJ Bell form which i would need to fill in (however it was already filled in with someone else's details - not great for Data protection...)

They also said the following:

Pension contributions through us are classed as Employer contributions and these would be taken from your invoice value, not your taxable pay. As your employer we can also included [sic] a 13.8% top-up on each contribution sent to your provider. For example if you wanted to contribute £200 per week into your pension, £227.60 would be sent from us to your provider to add to your pension scheme as this payment would include that 13.8%.

Presumably this just means that i will benefit from the employer NI savings as well - but its strange that they have worded it this way as a grossed up amount rather than accounting for the amount i want to salary sacrifice and then working out NI on the rest? I've asked them to clarify.

One other concern i have is - that if i have to choose a regular monthly amount for the direct debit but my earnings differ month to month - eg over Christmas where we will have bank holidays and mandated days off - how does that impact the direct debit - do they still pay the fixed amount even if you don't earn as much that month? Has anyone any experience of this with any Umbrellas?

Thanks for all the help and guidance everyone.

[rootsnall]

Yes - Parasol have confirmed they do support employers contributions by direct debit and sent me an AJ Bell form which i would need to fill in (however it was already filled in with someone else's details - not great for Data protection...)

They also said the following:

Pension contributions through us are classed as Employer contributions and these would be taken from your invoice value, not your taxable pay. As your employer we can also included [sic] a 13.8% top-up on each contribution sent to your provider. For example if you wanted to contribute £200 per week into your pension, £227.60 would be sent from us to your provider to add to your pension scheme as this payment would include that 13.8%.

Presumably this just means that i will benefit from the employer NI savings as well - but its strange that they have worded it this way as a grossed up amount rather than accounting for the amount i want to salary sacrifice and then working out NI on the rest? I've asked them to clarify.

One other concern i have is - that if i have to choose a regular monthly amount for the direct debit but my earnings differ month to month - eg over Christmas where we will have bank holidays and mandated days off - how does that impact the direct debit - do they still pay the fixed amount even if you don't earn as much that month? Has anyone any experience of this with any Umbrellas?

Thanks for all the help and guidance everyone.

Ask for an example calculation and that will explain the 13.8% bit, it should be a simple payment into your SIPP from the gross they receive but their system may split it !? The umbrella model doesn't suit a fixed direct debit for the reasons you state, again one for Parasol.