Mostly Remote stands out by offering the reimbursement of business travel expenses. Most other Umbrella companies do not offer this service and do not appear to understand the difference between an "ordinary commute" which is not tax-deductible, and "business travel" which is.

The necessity of our service became apparant when our founder was offered an Inside IR35 contract that required him to be onsite in London two days per week.  

The majority of the work was to be performed from his office in Belfast, which makes that the main workplace and place of the ordinary commute, with two days per week in London falling under the category of business travel, a journey to a place that is not the normal workplace and wholely necessary for business purposes.

Business travel is fully tax-deductible, an employee (which is what a contractor becomes when Inside IR35) should never be expected to pay for business travel from their own personal post-tax pocket, yet end-client and recruitment agency both refused to reimburse the travel expense, even refusing to carve it out from the daily rate prior to PAYE payroll.

An investigation into the Umbrella company market lead to a shocking discovery: of over 50 umbrella companies contacted, NONE would permit the reimbursement of what is clearly regarded as business travel in law. Reasons given for this ranged from the incorrect "you cannot claim any travel expenses while under SDC", to "we agree with your analysis but our IT system will not allow it".  

Ultimately our founder was forced to reject the contract as no entity in the chain was willing to recognise and properly deal with business travel expenses.

We know that there are thousands of contractors in this exact position, specialists who have seen the marketplace shrink or completely disappear for them as they cannot travel to where they are needed without incurring huge personal costs, with clients, agencies, and umbrellas all suggesting that the contractor pay for client site visits from their personal post-tax income, ultimately making those contracts unfeasible.

Mostly Remote Umbrella has been created specifically to serve those contractors.

Have you just started contracting and are looking for an umbrella company? Or are you thinking of switching from your current provider? There are hundreds to choose from but how do you know which is right for you?

If you are working with a recruitment agency, they may have a list of trusted umbrella companies that they recommend. You should review these companies, and if you need a specific service, such as the ability to have expenses reimbursed for travel to client sites, ask your agency if any of their approved umbrella's offer this service - if not please provide them with our details, we are happy to work with most UK agencies, and you are entitled to insist on using an umbrella that fits your needs. At Mostly Remote we pride ourselves in offering the ability to claim expenses reimbursement where must others do not.

Other important aspects of umbrella company services you should consider are:

The umbrella company's margin

The only differentiating factor between the deductions you will see from different umbrella company’s is their weekly or monthly margin. This margin is to cover the cost of processing your payroll and acting as your legal employer. The usual fees range from £20-49 and you may find different additional benefits being offered. At Mostly Remote, we charge at the higher end of the range due to our unique offering of reimbursing expenses which incurs significantly more adminstration than our competitors.

Tie-in period

Some umbrella companies have a tie-in period which requires you to give a certain amount of notice to them before you leave their service. Before you sign up to an umbrella company’s services you should always check whether or not they have a tie-in period. At Mostly Remote we have no tie-in period whatsoever and only charge fees for each timesheet or payroll processed.

Entry/exit fees

Some umbrella companies will charge you an entry or exit fee. However, if you do not want to pay this there are plenty of providers who will not charge an entry/exit fee. Mostly Remote do not charge any entry or exit fees.

Insurance

Most compliant umbrella companies will offer an insurance policy to its umbrella employees. The standard insurances you can expect to see are Employer’s Liability Insurance, Professional Indemnity Insurance and Public Liability Insurance. Mostly Remote will provide you with £25 million in insurance cover via our highly trusted provider.

Same day faster payments

Not all umbrella company’s process payroll daily, some will only process payroll once a week. Mostly Remote operates same-day Faster Payments which mean as soon as we receive funds from your agency or end client, we will process it and pay you the same day.

Compliance

It is highly recommended that you use an umbrella company that is accredited by an industry regulatory body. An industry accredited umbrella company will have to comply with strict codes of conduct and pass regular audits to ensure that they remain compliant with UK tax law and government legislation.

Mostly Remote is proudly accredited by Chartergate Audit, a leading UK Law Firm. 

Pension scheme

When you sign up to an umbrella company, they will become your employer and are legally required to auto-enrol you into a pension scheme if you meet certain criteria. It is possible to opt-out of the pension scheme they enrol you onto but it is recommended that you have another scheme already in place.

We know that many contractors will wish to opt out and use their own SIPP. Unfortunately, each SIPP provider has their own processes and many require bespoke paperwork, some even demanding wet ink signatures and posted documentation. While we can accomodate these requests, we need to charge an admin fee to cover time spent.

The law regarding tax-deductible expenses can be complex. At Mostly Remote, we consider your home office as your primary place of work when you work remotely. This perspective allows us to reimburse travel expenses for journeys to other sites, as long as the journey is temporary and wholely necessary for business purposes. Please see our "Legal Bit" page for more detail.