PSR have ditched Clarity - any recommendations?

[b0redom]

Well it's not looking good for Clarity. I'm currently working through PSR for a government client and they just contacted me to tell me that they note the FCSA accreditation was removed on 27th November, so they are no longer going to work with them, and unless folks request otherwise they'll transition everyone over to Giant.

In the 2 years I worked through Giant, I don't think they ever paid me on time or the right amount. Then they were very publicly hacked and went completely lights out for 2 weeks. Finally when I arranged to move on from MoJ (with the MoJ), Giant told me that they wouldn't allow me to leave and I had to see out the contract. I am not keen on moving back to Giant.

What's the current hive mind recommendation?

[agentzero]

Be wary of people recommending purely because they want a referral fee and bonuses.

I've seen Nasa and Paystream mentioned here a lot across threads and based in the UK. You are going to have to phone the top 5 biggest players and see what fees and SIPP or pension contributions are possible. The fees add up, so be careful with just choosing because somewhere here recommends any umbrella, they have not necessarily performed any due diligence. Word of mouth isn't good enough when it's your rate involved.

[b0redom]

Well I'm not sure how folks would get a referral fee/bonus from an Internet post. Seems like Paystream and NASA are both getting good reviews on the work slack channel too....

[agentzero]

From a friend in this position now:
"The umbrella will ask you repeatedly who recommended you or which agency recommended them from the literature they provided you. You won't stop being asked this. It's part of the referral process. Be careful of quotes, the weekly or monthly fee will vary dependent on which agency is involved."

It sounds as if you're not giving a person £50 to £100 then this is going to the agent.

Any umbrella should be able to take your rate and provide a detailed breakdown. Tell them how much you want into your SIPP or pension and make that the same during your request for quotes from different umbrellas. The question I have is why does the fee depend on which agency is involved, I again think referral fees might be paid monthly or weekly from this so compare apples with apples.

[eek]

From my experience of Giant, they are the default as they facilitate things for AMS.

Giant will have a list of umbrellas that front the money otherwise like Clarity (who only pay workers when they receive the money from AMS) you will be being paid 30 days later when AMS/PSR pay the bill.

[fatJock]

I had an email from Lucy saying that Clarity were getting FCSA membership restored today - too late for me as I'd left already but it's a shame as they were very good. Them being FCSA again may not ultimately influence your decision but I thought I'd mention it.

My agency had a few to choose from - I chose ICS because of the easy II SIPP integration and I know some others with them. But to be honest, next gig I'll be back to Clarity if they're still about.

[b0redom]

TBH I'd just prefer to stay with Clarity, but it's a decision that's been taken off me. I really miss outside IR35 contracts where I'm not forced to be reliant on middlemen who may or may not be compliant with some random set of rules.

[agentzero]

Asked my two friends who were with Clarity if they have had any contact about the FCSA restoration but they haven't received any phone calls or emails saying this yet.

You can do your own research on the Cyprus connection and decide whether the parent company is reliable. Neither Clarity or the FCSA look good in this situation. I am shocked that the FCSA's Chris Bryce hasn't posted here or one of the other reps. I know one of the two friends mentioned told me they left voicemails and sent emails to the FCSA when this situation started and have received no response. I don't see any update on the FCSA website except the silent removal of Clarity umbrella as an accreditation and the award pages have been removed. No update on the Clarity website too.

It's fair to say this timeline of events doesn't reflect well on the industry as a whole and the FCSA have a lot to answer for, because they're supposed to be some form of industry body and haven't bothered communicating with anybody despite some people trying.

[fatJock]

Asked my two friends who were with Clarity if they have had any contact about the FCSA restoration but they haven't received any phone calls or emails saying this yet.

I had an email from Lucy yesterday but let's see what today brings. I agree though, comms could have been handled better but perhaps related to the fact that it went legal.

Edit/Update: looks like the mail was true to it's word with Clarity being back on the FCSA site as a member.

[Ketto]

In my experience all compliant umbrellas are broadly similar - but most of those I have worked with in the past seem to have their own unique quirks and ways of doing things which pee you off in different (sometimes major, sometimes minor) ways. Given the Clarity situation the next best from past experience has been Paystream who I would most likely look at first next time I need one.

There is a thread elsewhere about pension contributions taking a long time to reach your provider so do have a look at that first though - i've not used a brolly since 2020 so not sure how common this is.