I am currently directly employed as a class 2 driver but recently i had a agency driver with me who claimed he was earning £700 per week on agency work due to being self employed and in an umbrella scheme
So what in your opinion is the best option ?
No Brainer…if you need a job stay where you are…at least you are guaranteed work…there will be hardly any work with the agencies after xmas.
thetastytrucker:
I am currently directly employed as a class 2 driver but recently i had a agency driver with me who claimed he was earning £700 per week on agency work due to being self employed and in an umbrella schemeSo what in your opinion is the best option ?
Ask that agency driver how much he earns in January, February and March. Ask him how many times work has been cancelled too late to get anything else.
Agency drivers get paid more because for most they spend more time sat at home with no work.
If you do agency work and are NOT in umbrella, then you’ll get an automatic tax rebate pot built up on all those weeks you go short.
Umbrella firms though, because they charge per payslip something like £27, they’ll make sure you’re offered a single 8 hour shift a week just so they can charge the fee. They’ll likely be a commute involved as well. 
WIthout umbrella, you can take £135 of your holiday pot per week you get nothing else. That way they’ll be no deductions of any kind. 
If I find myself getting a singleton shift, they’ll be no deduction of fees either, and I won’t have to use up the holiday pot.
January-March is obviously going to be hardest on those who’ve only recently signed up with the agency, and who have not yet built up a holiday pot. 
It might be possible to get a £700 week in across the Christmas period, but as others have said, come new year it dies the death until Easter.
Winseer:
It might be possible to get a £700 week in across the Christmas period, but as others have said, come new year it dies the death until Easter.
It is possible to earn £700, £800, £900+ per week as an agency driver, but those weeks will be limited in number in comparision to the weeks where the same person earns £100, £200 etc.
The average of all the high & low wage packets over the year will bring the average agency driver into the same salary PA as the average employed driver, but with the added workload of managing the books etc. Its those drivers who have been pushed blindly into S/E & umbrella schemes without knowing the pitfalls who will struggle in the long term
But to answer the OP`s question…
thetastytrucker:
I am currently directly employed as a class 2 driver but recently i had a agency driver with me who claimed he was earning £700 per week on agency work due to being self employed and in an umbrella schemeSo what in your opinion is the best option ?
Do you need financial security?
Do you have a young family & need a steady income stream to meet regular financial out goings (morgage etc) ?
Do you mind being out of work 2-4 months per year?
IF you answer YES to any of these questions, then agency driving isnt for you. Its predominately the domain of divorcees, & young singletons without large ££s outgoings, mature family members who are debt free, the children have flown the nest & only need the income they earn to “tick over” & if the worse happens, are able to sit at home without work, AND still meet day to day living expenses
Thanks peirre
I Must admit i have only worked for an agency for about 2 days in the past 5 years
But this industry seems to use them as the normal now. When you check most websites most hgv jobs are being recruited by agency’s
I think i will sit tight with my regular direct employment for the time being