Penderels Trust - Chelmsford

Caitlin C.

In the last 7 days I have called Pendrels trust Essex over 50 times as well as emailed and have only gotten through to a person 3 times.
My employer put mine and my colleagues timesheets in on the 3rd of January and we should have been paid a week ago and have yet to be paid. When you call the Coventry branch I have always managed to get through but they don’t have a direct line to the Essex branch and unfortunately it is an Essex matter. If the issue doesn’t get resolved soon I will be escalating the issue. Luckily this job isn’t my main source of income as I can’t imagine the stress issues like the Essex branch call center would cause to them. It has made me furious and it’s only a portion of my income that I’m waiting on. They are very unprofessional to allow this to go on for this length of time!

Dolores L. L.

One * because there is nothing lower!! I find Penderels extremely incompetent the best i can describe them , always problems with wages ( never to my advantage) , when you ring them , they never answer, when the receptionist finally does, she puts you through the relevant person who doesn't answer either and your only option is to leave message after message, so frustrating, will contact ECC next to report it

Ally F.

If I could give zero I would. Sadly Penderels Trust have been given the contract by ECC. They are letting down both Self employed PA’s and their clients. What are they doing with money that isn’t theirs ? What is their gain by holding onto funds? I see they have replied on the many other complaints about late payments, they say they need 30 days to check the invoices. These invoices are already checked and authorized by the client or their court of protection authorized person. It is their job just to pay what’s rightfully owed. It’s interesting how they prioritize PAYE so self employed are victimized for simply choosing the freedom of being self employed. I have now been waiting almost 30 days for my wages. This is a policy they have set in place in order to gain a bit of interest on the money that isn’t rightfully theirs. They asked my employer to put invoices in on the 24th of the month to help them make the payment faster this has not worked at all. It is now 7 weeks since I last got any money !! They do not have any care or understanding that their payments are so infrequent that’s it impossible for me to maintain paying direct debits, other commitments and keep a health bank balance as I never know when I will be paid sometimes they pay a week after invoicing and now this invoice is 4 weeks and still not received. I am now in debt waiting for them pull their finger out. I see from other complaints that that never reply to your emails so you feel you have no where to turn. This is a diabolical company and I cannot believe ECC are allowing this company to be trusted with vulnerable clients funds. They say have a complaint form on their website. That would be a farce as they never reply so it’s pointless and if they reply to this review that would be a wasted reply as it will be excuses and repetitive responses with no value. Essex County Council need to look into this trust immediately.

Cassi B.

Absolutely disgraceful service. My carer is self employed and has been waiting since June for payment of invoices, the funds have been paid to Penderels but they obviously prefer the money in their account growing interest!! After numerous calls and emails, still no payment for two months of outstanding invoices. How is this allowed to happen? Disgusting.! Told one day carer will be paid by 12, then by 6pm, next day told it’s be the day after, then told the end of the week. They have a faster payment option on payroll, disgusting to leave vulnerable people in a situation where they could lose their carer due to non payment of wages. If I could give a zero star, I would. Governing body? I asked for the complaint procedure and was told there isn’t one but I could report to the person I was already speaking to. It’s all a shambles

Ben C.

I called on behalf of my mother in law who is elderly, who in order to view her wage slips has to have an authenticator app to log into her Penderels site which is not only a massive pain in the backside but doesn't always work on the company website. The lady I spoke to agreed that it was not the best operating system immediately on our call! To top it off, the unfortunate staff who've had to listen to my complaints today have also no idea how to help me to help my mother in law. To top that off again, my mother in law has been paying more tax for months than she should be and they haven't paid her for more than 40 days, which according to some of the replys to previous reviews is outside of the 30 day time frame that's legal in the UK according to the Penderels team that answered these reviews!
So at this point my mother in law can't access her payslips, they won't send physical payslips out and they have gotten her tax percentage incorrect with no explanation. I strongly urge any company considering using Penderels Trust for their payroll to look elsewhere. I hope that this review will save at least a few companies from the troubles of using Penderels and having unpaid and unhappy staff.
Apologies for the rant but everyone posting 1 star reviews can't be wrong and they aren't!

Laura B.

This has been given one star because I can not give zero. I am in belief that this company is misappropriating funds from ECC. I have spent 13 days attempting to get a response from Payroll in regards to unpaid invoices. The only contact that I have had with this company is with a Financial officer despite multiple seniors promising to contact me back to rectify the situation. The issue is not even within the purview of this ladies job description however they have left her as the only point of contact. I am today going to be seeking legal advice as this is not good enough, as a company that promotes themselves as supporting independent living all they have done in regards to this staff member is restrict my living as it is no longer financial viable to commute to support me or keep a roof over their head for that matter.

Kristina W.

I have experienced numerous issues with this business. Their service, communication and attitude is disgusting and extremely unprofessional. If I had contracted with them myself I would hold them in breach of contract several times over. Unfortunately I have to use them due to their contract with Essex County Council.

Despite passing the employee & employers forms to this business on time, their payroll did not bother requesting the HMRC code until a month later. This HMRC is required for the PA to be added to payroll and then paid correctly.

This meant my PA did not get her full pay, then once the HMRC code was received they decide not to pay her at all despite my timesheet being submitted correctly and receiving confirmation of said timesheet.

They also gave my PA the option of being paid 4 weeks or monthly. The PA chose 4 weekly, but over a month and a half later and only 2 weeks payment (- 30% of that pay) provided, they finally admit this was a mistake and they only pay PA's monthly.

They do not reply to emails, they do not answer their phone. If you are an authority thinking of using Penderels, do your residents a favour, don't. If you are anyone else thinking of using them, don't. Basically avoid at all costs.

I will be looking into my legal options and have made a request to Essex CC for me to take control of my own direct payments.

David M.

A friend of mine has been trying to get in touch with this organisation and get the invoices they have submitted paid. Despite leaving numerous telephone messages and sending a number of emails nobody has bothered to phone back or reply to emails. This is appalling especially bearing mind that they are supposed to be helping with the support of the Disabled. What we would like is for someone to get in touch as I am sure they realise that not being paid for work that has been completed is totally
unacceptable. What would happen if at the end month the people working for this organisation did not receive their salary.