Hi All. I have recently started driving an artic for a courier company, they want me to be self employed, can anyone tell me the good point /bad point of this? appreciate any ideas
cheers
First question to ask yourself is do you trust them? alot of courier type companies ask drivers to go self employed as they think they can then force an abuse of working hours etc. with no comeback on them.
As a self employed driver they can drop you one day and ask you to come back the next dependent on their work requirements. Good for them not so good for you, unless you sign a contract with agreed weekly hours and pay etc. word of mouth is worth nothing.
A paye driver is entitled to Holiday pay and sick pay from the company, a self employed driver is not. So are they offering you a pay rise of around 20% to go self employed if not tell them to stick it.
Last of all you will be responsible for paying your own tax and insurance which means you have to be strict in keeping it to one side. Its amazing the amount of people who don’t the reppercussions at the end of the year are obvious.
On the plus side 
you can claim for associated costs invloved with running your self employed business. There are numerous things to claim for including wear and tear plus fuel for your car getting to jobs (40PPM), clothing for work your accountant to do your return and lots more so its not all doom and gloom. Also if you get an insurance policy you can prtect against time of sick etc. which takes some of the worry out of it.
Good Luck!!!