Compare umbrella company fees

We researched fees charged by PAYE umbrella companies including Contractor Umbrella, Atlantic Umbrella, Parasol Group, Orange Genie, Crystal Umbrella, Danbro, PlanIT, Giant Group, Gabem, Liberty Bishop, Tarpon and Brooksons. To save you the trouble of doing it yourself we've put these umbrella company fees in the table below. When comparing fees it's important to compare like with like. There are a number of ways in which umbrella companies present their fees and some charge in different ways.

Several umbrellas hold back holiday pay, and earn interest on it, and some charge you their fee again when they pay it out. We don't. Many advertise net rather than gross fees. We don't. Because the net fee depends on your tax rate, our net fee will be between £4.97 and £5.81. Other umbrella companies charge a percentage fee which is confusing. We don't. Some offer a ‘free' payroll service, but won't process your expenses without taking a cut of the tax relief. We don't. Some umbrellas have extra 'admin', 'joining' or 'leaving' fees. We don't. Some umbrellas charge extra to pay you weekly. We don't. Some umbrellas pay out only once a week, we pay every day. How do these models compare? It's hard to know exactly how much you'll pay for their services, but what is certain is they wouldn't charge in this confusing way if they didn't make money from it.

Umbrella company	Weekly Fee (gross)
BBuffalo	£9.50
Contractor Umbrella	£24.95
Atlantic Umbrella	£30.00
Parasol Group	£27.50
Orange Genie	£27.50
Crystal Umbrella	£27.50
Danbro	£22.00
PlanIT	5% (£12.00-£35.00)
Giant Group	£28.00
Gabem	£22.00
Liberty Bishop	£31.45
Tarpon	6%
Brookson	£21.00

*Fees listed as provided in November, 2010