Card Payments for Freelancers: The Fee You Cannot Pass On
Card payments cost 1.5% + 20p with Stripe and 2.9% + 30p with PayPal; Direct Debit is capped at £4. And you cannot surcharge a consumer client.
Founder and Editor
Syed Esrak Ahmmed
Syed Esrak Ahmmed started The Paid Hour in August 2026 and writes every guide on it. He works in web design, SEO and digital operations, and built the site after finding that most UK freelancing advice either stops at the obvious or quietly sells something. He is based in Cambridge, England.
Not an accountant and not a tax adviser. Every figure on this site is checked against HMRC's published guidance or a provider's own documentation, and carries the date it was last verified.
Elsewhere: LinkedIn/ Personal site/ YouTube
Guides written by Syed
Cyber Insurance for Freelancers: What It Will Not Cover
Cyber insurance for freelancers: Cyber Essentials bundles £25,000 of cover if you opt in — and excludes money stolen electronically. What to check first.
Invoicing Deposits: Refundable Is Still Taxable
Invoicing deposits: a refundable one still creates a VAT tax point the day it lands — HMRC says so outright. What goes on the invoice, and when it counts.
Cloud vs Desktop Accounting Software: The Real Cost
Cloud vs desktop accounting software: HMRC never says which. VT Transaction+ is £90 a year, not a one-off, and FreeAgent is £0 with the right bank.
Recurring Invoices for Retainer Clients: Set Up Right
Recurring invoices for retainers: still one invoice per period, with its own number. How to automate the schedule and avoid the numbering trap.
Is FreeAgent Free for UK Freelancers? What You Actually Get
FreeAgent is genuinely free with NatWest, RBS, Ulster or Mettle — one transaction a month keeps it alive. Everyone else: £19, and a closer call.
Business Savings Accounts for Your Tax Pot
Where the tax pot lives: easy access beats notice, interest meets the PSA, and FSCS now covers £120,000 — with e-money outside the scheme entirely.
Trademarking a Business Name as a Sole Trader
A trading name owns nothing — a registered trade mark does. What £205 buys, what you can’t register, and when a freelancer should bother.
Employers’ Liability Insurance: £2,500 a Day Uninsured
Employers’ liability insurance is the only cover UK law forces on a small business. When a sole trader counts as an employer, who is exempt, and the daily fine.
Professional Indemnity Insurance: What Sole Traders Miss
No law makes a sole trader buy professional indemnity insurance — a regulator or a client might. And the cover has to outlive the business by six years.
Public Liability Insurance Cost: What the Ads Leave Out
Public liability insurance cost: the from-£5.40 headline is the cheapest tenth of customers, before monthly charges. Real published prices for sole traders.
Public Liability Insurance: Do the Self-Employed Need It?
Public liability insurance is not a legal requirement — only employers’ liability is. What it covers, when a client insists, and why the premium is deductible.