which brolly company has the cheapest admin fees...?

[opronnie]

I've been with Crystal for quite a while now and i'm paying £27.50 per wekk and have done since i joined.
Having recently started a new contract and met some ermmm interesting people i have had my eyes opened to newer companies who are dying for my business andoffering all sorts of incentives but thing i'm interested in is the actual admin charge that i pay them... having looked around i have a few companies in mind but i wonder, have any of you forum old foggies got any recommendations for the cheapest? Ta.

[Beefy198]

No point in being with the cheapest if they screw everything up....

[AZZIK]

No point in being with the cheapest if they screw everything up....

Sunday Solutions

[Menelaus]

Have to admit, I joined Parasol two months ago and they weren't as great as I'd been lead to believe so I'm back with Contractor Umbrella

[philip@wellwoodhoyle]

There's usually a reason for firms who are cheap! They're cheap because they need the business. Decent businesses are able to keep their clients (despite higher fees) because of quality of service. Otherwise, there'd be no businesses that charged more than the cheapest.

[DaveB]

I've been with Crystal for quite a while now and i'm paying £27.50 per wekk and have done since i joined.
Having recently started a new contract and met some ermmm interesting people i have had my eyes opened to newer companies who are dying for my business andoffering all sorts of incentives but thing i'm interested in is the actual admin charge that i pay them... having looked around i have a few companies in mind but i wonder, have any of you forum old foggies got any recommendations for the cheapest? Ta.

Cheap does not always equal good and you want your brolly to be good, it's your money they are handling after all.

And avoid like the proverbial anyone who claims to get you more of your income / let you pay less tax, through trusts, offshore funds or other odd sounding arrangements.

Can't really make any firm recommendations since I went down the Ltd route.

[MPwannadecentincome]

also make sure whoever you pick does not have 'cash flow' problems - if anyone goes bust kiss goodbye to your cash!

[Svalbaard]

Have to admit, I joined Parasol two months ago and they weren't as great as I'd been lead to believe so I'm back with Contractor Umbrella

Agree the CU service is excellent but they are putting their fees up to about £80 per month and this does not include any insurances. No explanation as to why fees are going up either...

Lisa... any explanation or just exploiting us?

[LisaContractorUmbrella]

Agree the CU service is excellent but they are putting their fees up to about £80 per month and this does not include any insurances. No explanation as to why fees are going up either...

Lisa... any explanation or just exploiting us?

Hi Svalbaard,

I'm hurt - we would never exploit you Thank you for the 'excellent service' comment which is much appreciated.

CU is one of the biggest and best know umbrella companies but we are also one of the cheapest, even with the rate increase, and I hope you agree that we still offer good value for money. As with any other company, if our costs of business rise we will have to, reluctantly, pass some of that cost on to our customers.

[brollyman]

You get what you pay for...

"There is nothing in life that some man can do a little cheaper or do a little worse.....those who consider price only are this man's lawful prey"

The moral - don't decide based on price alone, the cheaper umbrellas may charge extra for insurance and expense processing and may not have a fully online system meaning you'll be emailing or faxing timesheets and expense claims to them.