New Enterprise Allowance scheme - My story

s450

Many thanks!
Very informative content.
I took note of all you said but I have a question. What did you mean with this:

TrueBlue1965 wrote: »

Make sure that your business plan is well researched before you agree to go on the payment part of NEA.

Regards,

TrueBlue1965

Its one thing to want to have your own business but its another thing to make a new business idea work and make money. Research and research even more and then write a very good business plan is the key. Oh, and then loads of hard work!

Crisp_£_note

TrueBlue1965 wrote: »

Crisp £ Note, do you have a disabilities adviser or just a regular JSP adviser? Have they said anything about Access to Work? Plentry of potential money and help available to help you get back in to work even if your on NEA and starting your own business. Anything up to £10,000 depending on the type of barrier/disability and support that might make all the difference in making your business work. Im dyslexic. It says on my dyslexia report that access to a computer, printer and photo copying would be of great help while doing my degree. My dyslexia is now a potential barrier to me making a success of my business or getting a job. So, i will be pushing for the funding to get this equipment for my new business. Take advantage of everything and anything that can make a difference to if your business idea is going to work There is nothing to lose if you go on the business plan part of NEA. You will still get your benefits until your business plan is passed by NEA. Then, you either go for it or carry on with your benefits in the same way. Make sure that your business plan is well researched before you agree to go on the payment part of NEA. However, you might still be able to gain some extra benefits depending on your condition/disability. If the business fails. You simply go back on benefits again. Sounds like a no brainer to me. A win, win even if its a little earlier in going on NEA than you hoped or expected it would be.

Hi thanks for the help. I think she is just a regular back to work advisor. Im in the back to work help group where they integrate me slowly back into a job. However with my condition I know I couldnt cope going into work and being employed by a company so I have created my own job. I do want to go back to work as the money would be a huge help and I hate sitting round relying on benefits for years on end.
I like the suggestion if the SE fails then I can just go back to claiming benefit but im not sure what I would be entitled to as my credits as they stand are running out (will be stopped in May next year) so I wont be entitled to any money although my benefit entitlement is remaining 'live' until 2015r without the need for a medical reassessment. Which is good to some degree but I am not sure how it affects housing and council tax benefit if I am no longer receiving ESA payments. Also how does it affect the Tax Credits?

Its a huge worry for me which on top of everything isnt helping my health and winter is fast aproaching and that brings more troubles with it each year.

Thanks

TrueBlue1965

I think you need to ask your adviser at JCP what happens if your business does not make any money and you have to move back on to benefits after the 6 months on NEA?

What type of benefits will you be entitled to? You would have been self employed for 6 months. So, will your benefit entitlement still remain live' until 2015 without the need for a new medical reassessment? I suspect you would go on to JSA and would need a new medical reassesment before you would get the entitlment your on at the moment. Simply because you have been working. However, im guessing! The Universal credit might change everything aswell. You need to ask these and other questions of your adviser ASAP.

You also need a better off calculation that would give you a better idea of what you will be entitled to once your on NEA and self employed. This would give you a good idea of what you need to earn from your business to at least be equal with what you are getting at the moment while on benefits. Remeber, the NEA payments are an extra payment for the first 6 months and dont effect housing benefit or any tax credits you might get. .

In my case. Im better off for the 1st 6 months by £21 p/w average while im getting the NEA payments and othe benefits im still entitled to. Then, im £20 p/w down once the NEA payments finish. I,ve avaeraged out the NEA payments over the 26 weeks to give me a steady income rather than have £65 for 13 weeks, then £33 for a further 13 weeks. In my personal situation. I dont need to earn much from my business to be better off even when the NEA payments finish. However, i have a partner and two young children to support. So we are entitled to child and working tax credits, plus housing and council tax benefits even while im running my business. The more i earn, the less benefits we will get but we will be better off which has to be good. I only agreed to going on NEA once i knew my family where protected if things did not work out with my new business.

Every situation is different. So, you need to get the better off calculation. Then, you can make an informed choice about going on NEA and how you survive. You also need answers to the other questions so you know what happens if things dont work out with your business and you need to go back on benefits after you have finished with NEA.

amy8191amy

I was just wondering if anyone else had been referred by their NEA business advisor to the Startup loans? Im unsure as to whether the jobcentre can know this as he told me i can get the loan from startup and still get my nea payments... basically i have to do a new business plan and cash flow for the startup loans, apply for loan of up to 10000, getthe loan, then go back to my nea business advisor who will then get my signed off and onto nea.. i dont understand if this is actually allowed or not and not sure what to tell jobcentre.!? thanks

This_Year

amy8191amy wrote: »

I was just wondering if anyone else had been referred by their NEA business advisor to the Startup loans? Im unsure as to whether the jobcentre can know this as he told me i can get the loan from startup and still get my nea payments... basically i have to do a new business plan and cash flow for the startup loans, apply for loan of up to 10000, getthe loan, then go back to my nea business advisor who will then get my signed off and onto nea.. i dont understand if this is actually allowed or not and not sure what to tell jobcentre.!? thanks

The start up loan through NEA is up to £1000 - sorry, that's the extent of my knowledge as I didn't need to apply for a loan. I would speak to your NEA business advisor while you can. Mine has vanished off the face of the earth since I got my approval and started up!

TrueBlue1965

I was given a loan form on my first visit to my NEA provider and was told to fill it in and send it off asap. This i did. I got a phone call from the loan company about 10 days after i sent the form off. We had a basic conversation which was to confirm who i was. How much i wanted (1,000 max). What the loan was for. How the loan works, payments and times scale of the payments, ect.

As i did not have a mentor at that point. I was unable to give a date that i expected to be switching from JSA to the NEA payments (Having the business plan completed and signed off by NEA and then signng off JSA is the trigger for the loan to be payed in to my bank account). Without a date. I was given a name and number to contact at the loan company and asked to contact them when im half-way though the mentoring period of NEA. I was told that my loan should be in my bank account in the same week that i move from JSA to the payment part of NEA. Im at week 4/5 of being mentored (Lots of work done to be ready for being self employed. Business plan almost finished). So, i will be making that call to the loan company this week!

From what i can make out. JCP, NEA and the loan company confirm with each other that i have signed off JSA and moved on to the payments part of NEA. The loan is then processed and should be in my bank accont within a few days!

The loan part of NEA has to run very smoothly. It has to be in the bank almost as soon as the business goes live. Without the loan. Many on NEA would not be able to start trading!

littld

Does anyone know if NEA is means tested or not? I am currently claiming contribution-based JSA and the JobCentre mentioned this NEA as a possibility for me. I don't want to go through the hassle of applying only to find out I can't receive it as I have savings or whatever. Thanks.

amy8191amy

This_Year wrote: »

The start up loan through NEA is up to £1000 - sorry, that's the extent of my knowledge as I didn't need to apply for a loan. I would speak to your NEA business advisor while you can. Mine has vanished off the face of the earth since I got my approval and started up!

Hi thank you for your reply. Yes the max NEA loan is 1000, but when i had my first meeting with my NEA advisor he said he was passing me onto "StartUp" loans which is another scheme like NEA but not actually part of it. So i went and met another advisor on the start up scheme who gave me a new template for business plan and cash flow to do.. and with start up i can apply for up to 10000 if i want, so im getting it all done with them, getting my loan through them.. then when ive completed all that and applied for the loan i go back to my NEA advisor who rings the jobcentre and arranges for me to sign off and get my NEA payments. He told me its all fine and this way i get to have a bigger loan if i want and still get to receive NEA payments. (as the start up scheme does not have any payments after the loan) I keep asking him is it okay for me to do this, and can i tell the job centre im working with start up, and he keeps telling me just tell the jobcentre youre working on your business plan and if they need any more info give them my number and i'll speak to them. Im really really unsure as to whether this is allowed as my NEA advisor just keeps telling me he will talk to jobcentre and stuff. Havnt come across anyone else on this forum that has been through this. I dont know if my NEA advisor is really trying to help and make sure i get the best of both, or if he just cant be bothered to work with me and wanted to pass me onto his "colleage" at start up so he doesnt have to do the work. Strange.

TrueBlue1965

I took this from - http://www.startuploans.co.uk/faqs/

What is the difference between a loan from the New Enterprise Allowance and a Start Up Loan?
The NEA loan is part of a package of support aimed at helping people on benefits to start their own business, which includes business mentoring support to help participants develop a business plan. You can only apply for an NEA loan if you have been on the scheme and had your business plan approved. A loan from The NEA is capped at £1,000, with a higher interest rate than a Start Up Loan and is paid back over three years. A Start Up Loan, on the other hand, does not technically have a cap on the loan size, and has a lower interest rate (6% nominal which equates to around 6.2% APR representative). Further information on The NEA can be found on the DWP website: http://www.dwp.gov.uk/adviser/updates/new-enterprise-allowance/.
The decision to take out a Start Up Loan is ultimately the individual’s. Our Delivery Partners are well placed to provide you with advice. The Start Up Loans Company would always encourage individuals to receive independent financial advice when making decisions to take out a loan.
Can I receive a Start Up Loan if I have an NEA loan?
The New Enterprise Allowance (NEA) loan is part of a package of support aimed at helping people on benefits to start their own business.
The NEA scheme and the Start Up Loans programme are mutually exclusive packages of support offered by government to help people set themselves up in their own business. The individual elements of those packages are not interchangeable.


Mutually exclusive means they cannot occur at the same time! You either go on NEA or Start up. However, you might be able to do business plans for both and then after being exepted on both. Make your choice depending on if you get the right sized loan that you need. If you only need £2,274. Then, NEA is likely to be better for you. £1,274 is the NEA payments spread over 26 weeks which you dont need to pay back.



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