SG Umbrella vs Paystream vs Contractor Umbrella

[chrisnj]

Hi All

I'm due to start a contract in about a months time that's inside IR35 so I need to signup to an Umbrella. Agency I'm using has a PSL and from the great info on this site I've narrowed down to SG Umbrella, Paystream or Contractor Umbrella, all of whom I'm contacting to get quotes and ask a bunch of questions I've picked up on from the info here.

Paystream seems to generally get a positive press from what I can see and are probably the front runner at the moment as they are also the 1st choice of my agency. I see that as a potential positive in that I hope that means they integrate well but it may just be they give them the best kick-back?

Contractor Umbrella was my initial favoured choice as I used SJD as a Ltd Co accountant when Dolan owned when I contracted from 2012-2014 and then used I Dolan again when I Ltd contracted again 2018-2019 and had great experiences with them so as CU is also a Dolan company I figure I'd use them, however a bit disturbed at some of the negative feedback around them recently.

SG Umbrella is the wild card. I like their website info and they seem a smaller operation which I think often give a better service, however I can't seem to find any information on them in this forum which seems odd. Not sure if its me but using SG Umbrella in the search function doesn't result in anything. So does anyone have any feedback on them or use them?

Thanks
Chris.

[Netraider]

I have used Paystream and Contractor Umbrella. I think Contractor Umbrella's service has gone down slightly since Lucy left. She is now working for Clarity Umbrella so you may want to consider them as well.

Paystream were very slick with onboarding and general communications.

I don't use umbrella companies any more as I will not take contracts that are in IR35.

HTH

[chrisnj]

I have used Paystream and Contractor Umbrella. I think Contractor Umbrella's service has gone down slightly since Lucy left. She is now working for Clarity Umbrella so you may want to consider them as well.

Paystream were very slick with onboarding and general communications.

I don't use umbrella companies any more as I will not take contracts that are in IR35.

HTH

Thanks for your insight. From what I have researched so far if Clarity where on the agency's PSL it would probably be a no brainer that I would go with them but alas they are not. I am trying to put some pressure on the agency to see if they can work with Clarity but they are a largish agency so I'm not sure they have much flexibility on whether they can work with someone not on the PSL or add them to it.

[eek]

Thanks for your insight. From what I have researched so far if Clarity where on the agency's PSL it would probably be a no brainer that I would go with them but alas they are not. I am trying to put some pressure on the agency to see if they can work with Clarity but they are a largish agency so I'm not sure they have much flexibility on whether they can work with someone not on the PSL or add them to it.

Clarity are FSCA regulated (which sounds great but really isn't when you look at their membership and remind agencies that they need to do regular compliance checks and FCSA isn't really such a check).

And it's the regular compliance check component that is an issue at the moment as there isn't anyway for an agency to do such a thing which is why PSLs survive to reduce the workload down to 3 checks every x months.

[chrisnj]

So to update this thread. I tried to see if I could get Clarity used by the agency as my Umbrella and although they didn't seem totally against the idea of adding them, their 'onboarding' process, they said, takes them 2-3 months so it was rejected on the grounds I need to start my role before that could be completed.

I've decided to go with SG Umbrella. I haven't been able to find much info on them good or bad but in talking to them, answers they've given me to questions I've sent them and their general responsiveness in that process, I get a good feeling from them so we'll see.

[eek]

So to update this thread. I tried to see if I could get Clarity used by the agency as my Umbrella and although they didn't seem totally against the idea of adding them, their 'onboarding' process, they said, takes them 2-3 months so it was rejected on the grounds I need to start my role before that could be completed.

I've decided to go with SG Umbrella. I haven't been able to find much info on them good or bad but in talking to them, answers they've given me to questions I've sent them and their general responsiveness in that process, I get a good feeling from them so we'll see.

Could I ask who the agency is so that I can see why they think it would take so long - I've professional reasons for asking

[chrisnj]

Could I ask who the agency is so that I can see why they think it would take so long - I've professional reasons for asking

I'll send you a DM

[DolanContractorGroup]

Hi Chris

All three are FCSA members, so you should be in safe hands no matter who you go with.

You have used SJD and Dolan Accountancy before and have said that your experiences were really good. Contractor Umbrella is now managed by the same team as Dolan (which were also the same team at SJD) so people should experience nothing but good service with us too. We did win Best Umbrella in 2019 and were finalists last year.

We've really grown the business in the last 18 months and it's a testament to the hard work of our team and the great service they provide.

Kind regards


Zeeshan

[malvolio]

Hi Chris

All three are FCSA members, so you should be in safe hands no matter who you go with.

You have used SJD and Dolan Accountancy before and have said that your experiences were really good. Contractor Umbrella is now managed by the same team as Dolan (which were also the same team at SJD) so people should experience nothing but good service with us too. We did win Best Umbrella in 2019 and were finalists last year.

We've really grown the business in the last 18 months and it's a testament to the hard work of our team and the great service they provide.

Kind regards


Zeeshan

Can't really argue with the ex-SJD team comments, but I will take issue with the FCSA part. Until they have Ts&Cs with teeth and implement a rigorous compliance testing system, the accreditation means absolutely zilch.

[eek]

Can't really argue with the ex-SJD team comments, but I will take issue with the FCSA part. Until they have Ts&Cs with teeth and implement a rigorous compliance testing system, the accreditation means absolutely zilch.

Equally SJD didn’t have an umbrella company and the people who used to manage the umbrella side of things are now at clarity rather than Dolan.

remember contractor umbrella used to be based in Ipswich and that is no longer the case