Umbrella Reviews/Recomendadtions

[eek]

The title of the thread says "Umbrella Reviews/Recomendadtions", So sounds like the perfect thread for the poster's question

But the odds of someone who has used that umbrella reading this thread and replying is about zero.

While if the person created a thread asking about Liquid Friday it's just about possible someone is going to see the question and respond.

[northernladuk]

The title of the thread says "Umbrella Reviews/Recomendadtions", So sounds like the perfect thread for the poster's question

It is a question about 3 specific ones so a question about a different one hidden down in the chat isn't going to be very useful. It's not a generic thread about brollies.

[Acme Thunderer]

I suspect the umbrella read the wrong figure and didn't get it..

Probably because the very first thing you tell someone working at an umbrella and looking at an invoice to work out what figure goes into the gross income figure is "always, always, always ignore VAT"

Expenses are for client business travel e.g. sent to remote site by client. The same kind of thing an employee would claim for.

My client only pays expenses net of VAT, so the brolly has to give me the expenses part of the VAT or else I'm out of pocket. They have a copy of my expenses so know how much VAT should be paid to me. I only get back what I paid

[eek]

Expenses are for client business travel e.g. sent to remote site by client. The same kind of thing an employee would claim for.

My client only pays expenses net of VAT, so the brolly has to give me the expenses part of the VAT or else I'm out of pocket. They have a copy of my expenses so know how much VAT should be paid to me. I only get back what I paid

Yep I know that.

I was talking very much about how an umbrella employee will handle an invoice and why it was obvious to me as to what happened.

[Snarf]

Thanks all.

From chats I've had with them all today there isn't much in it between them and as no one came forward with any horror stories I'm a bit happier that they're all going to be ok.

Might just toss a coin a few times to pick one now

[northernladuk]

Thanks all.

From chats I've had with them all today there isn't much in it between them and as no one came forward with any horror stories I'm a bit happier that they're all going to be ok.

Might just toss a coin a few times to pick one now

But have you checked their pension offerings?

[Smartie]

Paystream

I spoke to Paystream this week. They told me that they did not process expenses and these had to be claimed at the end of the contract with HMRC via a P87 form. Other umbrellas have indicated that expenses can be processed and that can include their margin at approx £1000/yr.
They will pay into a personal SIPP with the major companies at a charge of £5 per week after tax - this is higher than many other umbrellas. They also allow carry-forward of unused pension contributions.
They don't offer medical insurance cover unlike some other umbrellas.
Analysis is ongoing.

[eek]

I spoke to Paystream this week. They told me that they did not process expenses and these had to be claimed at the end of the contract with HMRC via a P87 form. Other umbrellas have indicated that expenses can be processed and that can include their margin at approx £1000/yr.
They will pay into a personal SIPP with the major companies at a charge of £5 per week after tax - this is higher than many other umbrellas. They also allow carry-forward of unused pension contributions.
They don't offer medical insurance cover unlike some other umbrellas.
Analysis is ongoing.

An umbrella's margin is a top line figure that will always come out of your pre-taxed income. It's why looking at the cheapest umbrella doesn't make much sense for us when it's less than 1-2% of the invoice amount.

[Monkeypower]

Hi Snarf. You may wish to check with trafalgar to see do the give any other benefits.
I've been given Danbro (which somebody mentioned trafalgar is part of their group) as one of my brellue options, their margin is competitive but they also give basic BUPA cover as part of their margin.
They do do salary sacrifice and into ones own Sipp at no extra charge.

I found paystream the same as you and charge extra (£6 pw) for salary sacrifice option.

[Smartie]

Hi Snarf. You may wish to check with trafalgar to see do the give any other benefits.
I've been given Danbro (which somebody mentioned trafalgar is part of their group) as one of my brellue options, their margin is competitive but they also give basic BUPA cover as part of their margin.
They do do salary sacrifice and into ones own Sipp at no extra charge.

I found paystream the same as you and charge extra (£6 pw) for salary sacrifice option.

Danbro also on my list and have been very quick to respond to all my questions and provided 5 custom illustrations for different pension levels. Only £1.50/month for contribution to SIPP. My only concern is service quality but that's based on a few comments on this site and others which are often a single personal experience and not always very recent so not the best evidence.
They're a much smaller outfit so possibly more personal service, but less responsive. Analysis is ongoing.