Pontoon Preferred Umbrella Comparison
Last updated 06/12/2022
What choice do I have?
Pontoon Solutions will tell you it "prefers to work with" (aka mandates) 5 specific Umbrella Companies:
This information will save you time and money selecting the best umbrella company Pontoon gives you a choice of. There is no-where else that compares your options side-by-side. It represents the information I wish I had when making the determination. If you are currently in contract and feel like you could benefit from a change of umbrella company - this is an option. Anyhow...
What attributes are important to compare?
To help you decide which is best for you a comparison follows split into directly comparable things like how much they cost, and more subjective things like how their service is rated.
What isn't important to compare?
It does not cover Employers NI, Apprenticeship Levy, how your holidays are managed, Student Loan, Employer Pension, PAYE tax, Employer’s Liability, how often you are paid, Professional Indemnity and Public/Products Liability Insurance because there is nothing to compare - all of that is generic.
Umbrella Service Comparison Table
Weekly Cost Trust Pilot Reviews Pension Salary Sacrifice
PayStream (MyMax) £20 Excellent Yes- costs £5 per week
ICS Accounting £20 Excellent Yes - costs £5 per week
Brookson One £25 Excellent None
GiantPay £22 Poor Yes - costs £39.50 per week with 'Premium Service'
Conclusion
Cost: All the options pretty much cost the same.
Service: Service wise PayStream, Brookson and ICS Accounting stand out.
Extras: Some of them offer you 1% off your online cabbage purchases or something - who cares
Pension Salary Sacrifice: If you are planning on maintaining even the governments default 3% pension contribution this is a big deal. For example if your day rate is £550 per day (say £132,000 per year) then that 3% is £3,960 and the National Insurance (13%) and Apprenticeship Levy (0.5%) you will be paying £534 per year more than necessary (granted there is a cost to pension salary sacrifice) if you don't salary sacrifice.
If you maximise your pension allowance and put your full £40k per year in the savings are much more pronounced, you are saving £5400 on waiting until it is in your bank account before paying it into your pension).
Recommendation
PayStream (MyMax) and ICS Accounting combine the lowest price, best service and the option to take advantage of Pension Salary Sacrifice.
The authors personal experience is with PayStream (MyMax) who have been prompt and efficient. They set up my Pension Salary Sacrifice without issue, they have provided employment references to facilitate a new mortgage for me and all useful information like payslips and P60's are all available for download through their online portal