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Parasol Reviews 

6,362
TrustScore 4.5 out of 5

4.6

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Review summary

Created with AI, based on recent reviews

Looking at 609 reviews, reviewers overwhelmingly had a great experience with this company. Customers often mention that the staff is incredibly helpful, kind, and polite, making the onboarding process exceptionally smooth and straightforward for new freelancers. People truly appreciate the fast response times and efficient support provided when dealing with various payroll and pension queries. However, some reviewers were not happy with communication issues and slow response times when trying to resolve urgent matters with the team. A few other people also felt that payroll processes sometimes lacked clear communication, which caused unnecessary stress during contract transitions. Some customers noted difficulties in getting timely updates about their payments when problems arose.

What people talk about most

Staff

People report positive experiences with staff, highlighting their professional, knowledgeable, and caring... See more

Customer service

Customers consistently note positive experiences with customer service, highlighting responsive and... See more

Service

Consumers find service to be positive, highlighting an efficient, professional, and knowledgeable experience.... See more

Response time

Reviewers mention positive feedback about response time, highlighting efficient and prompt communication.... See more

User experience

Customers report positive experiences with user experience, highlighting the smooth and systematic onboarding... See more

Reviews shaping this summary

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

Used the webchat function a few times in the last couple of weeks, often getting through to someone called Jen A. Every single time, the chat has taken less than 3-4 mins as they just always know the... See more

Company replied

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

I terminated my contract with Parasol in September 2025 after moving to an internal PAYE role. The service Parasol provided over the years was outstanding. My pay was always correct and always on time... See more

Company replied

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

I just wanted to say a huge thank you to Jen, Kitty, Kim and those in Employee Support/Payroll. They were absolutely lovely every time I rang, always patient, reassuring and really clear about what wa... See more

Company replied

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

Today I spoke to Hollie. I made a complaint regarding expense claims. After a lengthy conversation I understood where a mistake had been made. Parasol then went the extra mile (which they didn’t... See more

Company replied


Company details

  1. Payroll Service
  2. Payment Service

Written by the company

Serving the agile workforce with Umbrella payroll you can trust. Interested in finding out more? Let's talk!


Contact info

4.6

Excellent

TrustScore 4.5 out of 5

6K reviews

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4.6

All reviews

(6,362)

615 reviews in the last 12 months

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Companies on Trustpilot aren't allowed to offer incentives or pay to hide reviews. Reviews are the opinions of individual users and not of Trustpilot. Read more

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

Fantastic umbrella company

Fantastic umbrella company - would highly recommend.
Super friendly staff, always paid on time and client-billable business travel expenses reimbursed with the appropriate tax and NI.
Unfortunately being forced to leave as the end-client is switching agencies.

29 May 2026
Unprompted review
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Reply from Parasol

We truly appreciate your kind words and positive feedback about our support. We are glad we could provide a great experience and we're sorry to see you go. If you ever do want to return to Parasol it's really simple to do and we would be really happy to have you work with us again. We wish you well in your ongoing venture.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

I have used Parasol for their IR35…

I have used Parasol for their IR35 umbrella employment services for a number of years and have always found them to be knowledgeable and helpful.
In the past year I have been struck down with long-term illness/s which have necessitated a prolonged break from work. In this regard, they have again been very helpful and supportive.
I would wholeheartedly recommend their services to you.
Thanks Parasol!

28 May 2026
Unprompted review
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Reply from Parasol

We are so pleased to hear of your positive experience with us. We are especially glad we could provide helpful support during your prolonged break from work. Thank you for your kind recommendation!

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

I recently onboarded to Parasol and…

I recently onboarded to Parasol and wanted to transfer my existing pension arrangements. My contact at Parasol, Prabhjot Kaur, was so helpful and ensured this happend without delay. Thank you.

26 May 2026
Unprompted review
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Reply from Parasol

We are so pleased to hear about your smooth pension transfer experience. Thank you for sharing your positive feedback with us!

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

Excellent customer service;

Excellent customer service;
Excellent employee support;
Prompt payment.
I have been with Parasol since contracting in 2018 up to April 2023.
Kept the door open for me when I went through some serious health issues until August 2025.
Now rejoined in May 2026 with no problems at all.. like I never left.
Thoroughly recommend.

27 May 2026
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Reply from Parasol

We're so pleased to hear about your positive experience with our support, Employee Support Team, and prompt payments. We appreciate your kind words and are glad you felt supported through your health issues. Thank you for your recommendation!

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

This is a complex review to write…

This is a complex review to write because I often get very great support and help from most Parasol staff, especially Hollie in this instance. However, I wonder if the upper management need to look deeper into their process and technology nexus to better support their great staff in helping all of us!

27 May 2026
Unprompted review
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Reply from Parasol

We're so glad to hear about your positive experience with Hollie. We appreciate your valuable feedback regarding our processes and technology.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

It was great to get everything done so…

It was great to get everything done so quickly, all the steps were explained very well, Georgia Ratchford and Kimberly Ratbone was super helpful with all the queries.

27 May 2026
Unprompted review
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Reply from Parasol

We're so glad to hear everything was handled quickly and clearly. We appreciate your kind words about our Georgia and Kim's helpfulness.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

​I am writing to share some positive…

​I am writing to share some positive feedback regarding the excellent service I recently received from Eva in Employee Support.
​Eva went above and beyond to assist me with my case. I deeply appreciate her helpful attitude and, most importantly, the proactive way she followed up with me to ensure everything was resolved. She made a stressful situation much easier to handle.
​Thank you, Eva, for the fantastic support

26 May 2026
Unprompted review
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Reply from Parasol

We're so happy to hear about your positive experience! We appreciate you highlighting the helpful attitude and proactive follow-up you received from Eva. It's wonderful to know we made a stressful situation easier for you. Thank you for sharing your fantastic feedback.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars
Parasol logo

Reply from Parasol

We are really pleased to hear that you found our Onboarding Team helpful. Thank you for your kind words and positive feedback.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Awful

Awful! Non responsive, kept me on hold for 15 min so the time could hit 5 and they could shut me off as I’m chasing payment which was confined paid!

11 May 2026
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Reply from Parasol

We appreciate you sharing your experience. We are concerned about the long hold time and payment issue. We are reviewing this immediately and a member of the team will be in touch directly.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

Avoid

This was my first time working as a contractor, as I had been a full-time employee throughout my career. Because I found an outside-IR35 contract quickly and needed to start at short notice, Parasol was recommended to me as an umbrella company.

My experience was very poor. Their expenses policy was rigid and offered no flexibility. I also found their communication patronising. At one point, they even questioned why I needed to attend the company’s office and asked me to formally justify it.

Parasol charged me more than £500 per month, and I could not see value for money in return. In my view, the service was unprofessional and poorly delivered. Around six weeks after starting, I gave notice on 24/04/26. I have since set up my own company and hired an accountant to handle the same work at a fraction of the cost, with a far more seamless and straightforward service.

To make matters worse, a week after receiving my final payment, I had to chase for my P45, which I had been told would be sent as soon as final payment had been made. I was then told that I had not resigned, despite the fact that I had submitted my notice in writing on 24/04/26 and that it had been acknowledged. I was later instructed to complete the resignation online, which should have been made clear when my written notice was first acknowledged.

Overall, based on my experience, I would recommend setting up your own limited company if possible. If that is not an option, I would still advise looking carefully at alternatives before choosing Parasol.

The one person at Parasol who was effective, polite and appeared to know what she was doing was Faye.

In summary and to end on a positive note Parasol need more Fayes!

22 May 2026
Unprompted review
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Reply from Parasol

We appreciate you sharing your detailed feedback regarding your experience as a first-time contractor. We are genuinely concerned to learn that our service did not meet your expectations, particularly concerning our expenses policy, communication style, and the issues you faced with your P45 and resignation process. Your insights are valuable, and we are reviewing these areas to improve our service for all contractors. We are also pleased to hear that Faye provided excellent support.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

Jen was very helpful and provided the…

Jen was very helpful and provided the requested document without any delay

22 May 2026
Unprompted review
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Reply from Parasol

We're happy to hear we provided the document you requested without delay. We appreciate your positive feedback.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

TrustID is and continues to be utterly…

TrustID is and continues to be utterly useless. Fails constantly, doesn't tell you it has poor compatibility with certain mobile browsers (Firefox in my case) and fails with no useful error messages

Edit: Review knocked down from 3 to 1 star as Parasol contacted me repeatedly without asking permission to, asked me to remove my review as "it worked for me in the end" and at no point addressed the actual issue.

22 May 2026
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Reply from Parasol

We are sorry to hear about the difficulties you've experienced with TrustID. We are actively investigating the compatibility issues with mobile browsers like Firefox and the lack of clear error messages to improve our service. A member of the team will reach out directly to gather further information on your experience.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

My experience / collaboration with the…

My experience / collaboration with the company was a pleasant surprise. They helped me anytime I needed, they answered to my questions, anytime I had one, they made a stressful process completely painless, and I really appreciate their patience and expertise. Thanks again for your support!

23 May 2025
Unprompted review
Parasol logo

Reply from Parasol

We're so happy to hear that your collaboration with us was pleasant. We appreciate your kind words about our team's patience and expertise in making the process painless. Thank you for your support!

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

Spoke to Kim and she was amazing

Spoke to Kim and she was amazing. Great service. Easy on boarding. Top staff.

21 May 2026
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Reply from Parasol

We're delighted you had such a positive experience with our team and onboarding process. Thank you for your kind words!

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

Super easy and great customer service

Super easy with onboarding, friendly team who make contact and tell you everything you need to know. Can’t fault them.

21 May 2026
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Reply from Parasol

We're happy to hear that your onboarding was easy and our team was friendly. We appreciate your kind words!

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

The margin for the standard package I…

The margin for the standard package I was quoted by Vicente was £14.90, but on the contract the margin was £29.75 per week which was doubled. Parasol managers explained that every agency gets different rates which is unfair considering my margin rate was £22 for the Plus package in January this year (for a better package with all the benefits). In my previous contract with them they kept getting my pension details wrong which resulted in big delays of processing the pension payments and my pension provider used to receive the payments up to two months late, it was a bad experience overall.

20 May 2026
Unprompted review
Parasol logo

Reply from Parasol

Thank you for sharing your detailed feedback. We are concerned to hear about the discrepancies that you have quoted and the issues with your pension payments. We are actively reviewing your comments to understand what went wrong and a senior member of the team will be in touch directly to discuss and resolve.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

Thank you, PRABHJOT KAUR.

PRABHJOT KAUR provided excellent, professional, seamless and prompt service. From start to finish, the service was beyond expectation. I give Prabhjot my highest recommendation.
Ola Ogunfeitimi.

20 May 2026
Unprompted review
Parasol logo

Reply from Parasol

We are so glad to hear that our support exceeded your expectations! Thank you for sharing your wonderful feedback. We truly appreciate your kind words.

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