i work on the agency and they say i will be much better of if i went on the unbrella company they have.i have never been on one before are they any good can i have some advice.tell me about the pro’s and con’s.do you give your self a name
Do a search mate.
But, if you want to go self employed (and you don’t), get yourself an accountant and keep all receipts etc and you’d be better off, umbrella schemes are a con
This seems to be going on a lot in the transport industry is this the way future ! lets hope not
They want you on an umbrella company because it’s better for them. However you can claim meal allowances and travelling expenses IIRC around 40ppm.
On my wage slip from them I get paid at 5.93 an hour then get the rest made up as tax free bonuses or something like that. Basically I get more money in the end. Mind you I’m sure I’m getting conned somewhere…
On one wage slip I’ve got here I done 11.25 hours at £10.25ph which should be £115.31 however on the slip I get £5.93x11.25 which works out at £66.71 then I get a “bonus” of £48.60 minus £2.50 for some tempsure rubbish.
Gross pay £115.31
Paid in bank £112.23
Total deductions £3.08
What would you rather be on?
PS that’s not including the £0.40 per mile for driving to and from work. That’s a seperate payment.
Before agreeing to get paid through the umbrella company you should make some enquiries about the specific umbrella company your agency uses, Steve-os post makes it look enticing but I think you’ll find that not all umbrella companies operate that way.
When my agency wanted me to sign an agreement with an umbrella company some enquiries with the company in question made me believe it was one big con and if I was going to be any better off it would not be by much, and I would have to keep recites for everything to be in pocket at-all.
As has been said agencies like to pay through umbrella companies for only one reason and that’s to improve their own profits, so do some research before committing yourself.
If you post the name of the umbrella company someone here may have first hand knowledge of them 
Even NOVA, the most popular umbrella company in transport say that unless you earn £350 a week and can claim 1/3 of that as expenses it isn’t worth it.
Don’t forget that it will be you who is liable for the Employers NI so that works out at an additional 13.8% out of everything you earn above £110 in addition to employees NI and income tax so you’d be paying about 25.8% National Insurance above £110 a week and then 20% income tax as well on anything above £143. Basically on everything above £143 a week, your stoppages will increase to 45.8% in tax and NI compared to the 32% you’d be paying through regular PAYE.
Basically that means you have to have at least £120 a week in claimable expenses on a £350 week wage just to break even with PAYE…
Steve-o:
On one wage slip I’ve got here I done 11.25 hours at £10.25ph which should be £115.31 however on the slip I get £5.93x11.25 which works out at £66.71 then I get a “bonus” of £48.60 minus £2.50 for some tempsure rubbish.Gross pay £115.31
Paid in bank £112.23Total deductions £3.08
What would you rather be on?
.
PAYE…you would have only had 36p deductions…
BTW you’ve not deducted the umbrella schemes weekly charge…
For a start you could read the FAQs on NOVA’s website http://www.novacontracting.co.uk/employee/emp_faq.html which will answer a lot of your questions, there’s also a calculator in amongst the answers which compares how much you would get between an umbrella and PAYE. Also gives you something to compare with what you’re being offered.
Conor:
Steve-o:
On one wage slip I’ve got here I done 11.25 hours at £10.25ph which should be £115.31 however on the slip I get £5.93x11.25 which works out at £66.71 then I get a “bonus” of £48.60 minus £2.50 for some tempsure rubbish.Gross pay £115.31
Paid in bank £112.23Total deductions £3.08
What would you rather be on?
.PAYE…you would have only had 36p deductions…
BTW you’ve not deducted the umbrella schemes weekly charge…
Where would I find out how much the weekly charge is, Conor?
Mind though, I can claim mileage on top of that.
I’m with Maddison
maddisongroup.co.uk
well,now
You can put alot from the tax and you would getting higher Pay,but in reallity the Company and Agency knows about that too and may cut you short that you at end get not more as if you would get paid as employed.
I worked over Agy at milk and got good paid,changed then Agency with same Pay and umbrella same money but shorter Shifts 
Difference is that Company don’t like to employ you if you are self employed,but if they do you may get charged by tax office.
know one who had to pay £3000.- to them,as they overworked his Files after he got from Agency to Employed Driver.
Only way to find out the weekly charge is to ask the company. There are 100’s of umbrella companies - not just for drivers, the IT industry is rife with them, and there are good ones & bad ones. My agency has an umbrella company that, I’m pretty certain, is closely tied to the agency so they win all round - it’s not worth my while going off PAYE as I only do a couple of shifts a week with them, so I don’t get involved, but I’ve spoken to other drivers who have had varying experiences with the umbrella company.
Conor:
Even NOVA, the most popular umbrella company in transport say that unless you earn £350 a week and can claim 1/3 of that as expenses it isn’t worth it.Don’t forget that it will be you who is liable for the Employers NI so that works out at an additional 13.8% out of everything you earn above £110 in addition to employees NI and income tax so you’d be paying about 25.8% National Insurance above £110 a week…
£139 since yesterday.
Steve-o:
PS that’s not including the £0.40 per mile for driving to and from work. That’s a seperate payment.
You know you don’t actually get paid 40ppm? You get tax relief calculated at that rate per mile. Incidentally it went up to 45ppm for the first 10,000 miles yesterday, the rate above 10,000 miles stays the same.
On one wage slip I’ve got here I done 11.25 hours at £10.25ph which should be £115.31 however on the slip I get £5.93x11.25 which works out at £66.71 then I get a “bonus” of £48.60 minus £2.50 for some tempsure rubbish.
Gross pay £115.31
Paid in bank £112.23Total deductions £3.08
I don’t think I would have put that on a public forum , especially one which the taxman might read
del949:
On one wage slip I’ve got here I done 11.25 hours at £10.25ph which should be £115.31 however on the slip I get £5.93x11.25 which works out at £66.71 then I get a “bonus” of £48.60 minus £2.50 for some tempsure rubbish.
Gross pay £115.31
Paid in bank £112.23Total deductions £3.08
I don’t think I would have put that on a public forum , especially one which the taxman might read
Don’t you think the tax man knows exactly what’s going on with these companies?
Steve-o:
Where would I find out how much the weekly charge is, Conor?Mind though, I can claim mileage on top of that.
Ask the umbrella company. Nova charge £20 a week.
You can claim mileage on PAYE as an agency driver too as you don’t have a fixed place of work although you’ll need to wait until the end of the tax year and submit a P87.
Don’t you think the tax man knows exactly what’s going on with these companies?
Up until this year the taxman has accepted umbrella companies - when it was first suggested by my agency that I consider them, I phoned HMRC about them & though the guy I spoke to admitted they were in a grey area, because many other industries also used the system, they were happy to accept the situation.
However, since last year when the tax taskforce was set up, & reported in the budget, all of these tax circumvention schemes are being looked at. I work in the IT industry and they are one of the first targets, simply because of the numbers involved, but drivers won’t be far behind, assuming they don’t cut tax inspector numbers further .
Personally I don’t think that the umbrella companies have covered themselves enough because whereas previously they essentially just helped an individual set themselves up as a company, with the tax advantages, the new system, whereby you are essentially paid as PAYE on minimum wage seems even more of a grey area - if you’re PAYE you aren’t self-employed, one of the first definitions of being S.E., having more than one client paying you. Hence most of the umbrella companies will happily accept the charges to make their profits whilst they can, but come the great investigation by HMRC you won’t see any sort of assistance for the individual driver from them - they paid you, it’s up to you how you handle your expenses… just my personal opinion.
now this is a mmtm so i cant guarantee it…
the tax man takes a great intrest in umbrella companies due to the sheer number of clients. instead of hunting out one of individual claims they just inform umbrella companies lets for example nova, the taxman contacts nova and says give 150 of your clients to investigate and nova have to comply.
my friend got investigated by the taxman and nova dropped him like a hot potato sent him his stuff and left him to it, he had to pay an accountant £350 to sort it out. … isnt that what you pay nova for 
ive left nova just recently now they have sent all my stuff through and told me i have to do a self assessment, isnt that what i paid them for.
ive set up my own ltd company now and im loads better off but then i plan on staying on agency work now, if you only on the agency till you find a full time job you would be better off on a umbrella company but just dont expect anything for your money.
what happens if you leave the agency are you still with the unbrella company does it go with you or do you have to join a new one.
harv:
what happens if you leave the agency are you still with the unbrella company does it go with you or do you have to join a new one.
take it with you.