New Enterprise Allowance scheme - My story

jenker

If you need a business plan for the NEA Loan contant Jenny at [EMAIL="biz4uk@yahoo.co.uk"]biz4uk@yahoo.co.uk[/EMAIL]

Fee is reasonable with good knowledge of how the scheme works.

treenie01

This_Year wrote: »

I've just had a second letter to provide proof to the Jobcentre that I'm still trading, last one was 4 weeks ago. I've not heard a dicky bird from my business advisor. My business plan I re-wrote after the course from Ixion, but I haven't referred to it once in the 2 months.

So far the NEA just seems to be the money side of it. Which is useful but the advisory side of it - appears non-existent.

Our adviser/mentor bod told us this
Once you start trading you are entitled to mentoring support for the first six months of trading. Officially that is three face to face meetings with myself. You will remember from your induction day that I take the approach that you have access to me for the first 6 months and it is based on what you need/want. So if you want face to face meetings we will have them, if you prefer to do it by telephone or email then that also is available as is a mixture of all three. In other words it’s what suits you best. I will now leave it for you to contact me and let me know what you need when you need it.

From that I took it that it's up to you to seek advice from them.

As for the JC, I have my first meeting with them in January (it should be december but the 8 weeks took it to christmas). I was told on monday that you have a meeting at the JC at 8 weeks, 12 weeks and 16 weeks.

Andy2013

Now this is something I have not heard of before and it is indeed the way it happens, if you don't contact them you hear nothing .

But is that really the best way to run the show, they could contact you once a month at least just to give you a bit of a push.

The longer it is left the more you resent the scheme to the point know where by I would advise against bothering with the hassle.

Prior to NEA there were other schemes of which the names I forget but the mentors were much more hands on , fortnightly meetings and lots of help and the reason the two schemes vary so much comes down to something I was told this morning.

NEA mentors on the large part are volunteers , not paid except expenses , where as the previous schemes were run by paid companies or groups and this may have some corolation to the lack of mentoring many are receiving from NEA .

I do remember the one time I did meet my Muppet he was more interested in telling us how he is a wonderful life coach which was his job , and know I wonder if he actually had any interest in the futures of those on the induction our if he was just pimping out his own business via the new NEA applicants.

This is a question I have just asked my ex scheme via email and if it turns out to be the case then it would shed new light onto why this scheme in some cases has such a bad rep.

Maybe , just maybe they cant be assed !!!

This_Year

treenie01 wrote: »

Our adviser/mentor bod told us this
Once you start trading you are entitled to mentoring support for the first six months of trading. Officially that is three face to face meetings with myself. You will remember from your induction day that I take the approach that you have access to me for the first 6 months and it is based on what you need/want. So if you want face to face meetings we will have them, if you prefer to do it by telephone or email then that also is available as is a mixture of all three. In other words it’s what suits you best. I will now leave it for you to contact me and let me know what you need when you need it.

From that I took it that it's up to you to seek advice from them.

As for the JC, I have my first meeting with them in January (it should be december but the 8 weeks took it to christmas). I was told on monday that you have a meeting at the JC at 8 weeks, 12 weeks and 16 weeks.

No meetings at the JC, just a letter to post proof of trading to the NEA payment centre. It obviously varies from area to area.

Luckily my OH has run his own company before and is there to help if I need any advice. As my business adviser hasn't once been in touch to see how I'm doing, as she said she would.

treenie01

I'm actually waiting to hear back from mine as he never sent me the paperwork for the loan and I've got stuff I need to buy and can't buy without the money. Obviously without the stuff I have no business.

Can someone help me though? How does the actual me payment get paid. Is it weekly, fortnightly or monthly

Andy2013

My payments came fortnightly but I have heard some being weekly, and its best to give them a good kick up the bum if you want anything doing , it seems waiting gets you nowhere , remember a lot of us heard nothing during our time on NEA so contact them .

TrueBlue1965

You might have the same problem that im having at the moment over the loan, treenie01. Start-up Loan Company took over the NEA loans on 1st October 2013. It should now be a loan of up to £2,500. However at the moment Start-up Loan Company dont know what they are supposed to be doing. They are processing NEA loan applications in the same way as they process loans for young businesses that are already trading. So, they have some proof that they are making some money. A Start-up loan is for up to £10,000. Without proof of a viable business already trading. Its very difficult or almost impossible to get a Start up loan.

I,ve been offered a £4,500 loan but with some conditions. First, I have to sell some of my samples via a selling agent to prove that my products will sell in that way. Im planning on selling in many different ways but that not good enough to meet the conditions of getting my loan . Im being asked to sell via an agent or im not getting a loan. I have to have the relevent paperwork in place and the money in the bank to get my loan from Start up Loan Company.

They are not interested in the issues that im not allowed to trade until im signed on to NEA payments and i,ve signed off JSA. Im not going to be able to show that im doing 30+ hours work per week without any money to bring in new stock to manufacture my products and market my business. So, I will not be able to claim Working Tax Credits. On top of this. Once I get the orders from the selling agent. Im going to need to pay to deliver them. Not that I expect a selling agent to be interested in selling a hand full of my products which would earn them next to no comission. I have no money to pay for delivery once sold! It could also take months before I get payment for my products. So, its never going to happen!

We should be getting a new referred NEA start-up loan. Its different to a standard Start-up loan. However, Start-up Loan Company in my area dont have a clue Been fighting them for more than two weeks now. My NEA providers are doing there best to get it sorted. There have been several meetings. However, until BIS get there act together with Start-up Loan Company and inform my local provider of the new referred NEA Start-up loan which has different terms and conditions. Im stuck and cannot do anything but ask questions of Start up Loan Company.

Andy2013

This is terrible its like the blind leading the blind , one hand doesn't know what the other hand is doing.

So often people on here are saying that the schemes ,loans or JC don't know enough to be of much help , it was certainly the same for me as I did the research and told them how it needed to happen.

Keep fighting TrueBlue1965 , don't take no for an answer as getting the loan is a basic part of the NEA scheme.

TrueBlue1965

Finally got the answers i,ve been looking for.

The Government changed the loan agreements for those on NEA. However, they forgot to tell the NEA prviders and those who are providering the loans for NEA. The only information available pointed in the direction of Start-up Loan Company.

This is the E-mail I got this morning from Start up Loan Company in response to the questios I asked.

Thank you for your email.

Please note that you can only apply for an NEA loan OR a Start Up Loan you cannot apply for both and they are separate. If you want to apply for a Start Up Loan you can continue to work with your delivery partner. If you apply for a NEA loan you will be working with a different delivery partner and you will not be able to continue a start up loans application. I have answered your questions below but please do not hesitate to get in touch if anything is not clear.

1) What is the maximum size of an NEA referred loan?– If you were referred to the scheme before 1st October 2013, it’s £1,000. If after, it’s £2,500. This cap may be lifted in the coming months. You can check back in a few weeks to find out.

2) How do I access an NEA referred loan? Do I need to be referred by my NEA provider or direct to Start-up loans? – The Start Up Loans Programme is separate from the NEA scheme. To access the NEA scheme, you must go to your local Job Centre Plus and they will refer you to a mentoring organisation to get you started.

3) If my NEA business plan and cash flow have been excepted as viable by my NEA providers. Will I be offered an NEA referred loan by Start-up Loan Company?No, not definitely. The lending decision and processing are handled by our banking partners. They will run credit checks and separately assess your business plan to decide if you’re ready for funding.

4) How long is the repayment period for an NEA referred loan? Is there an option to take a capital repayment holiday before repayments start for an NEA referred loan? What is the time limit for a capital repayments holiday for those accessing an NEA referred loan?1-3 years. An optional capital holiday of up to 12 months is available, only if needed.


Kind Regards,
Start-Up Loans Team

My NEA provider also got many of the answers they where looking for after all the fuss we have made in the last few weeks.

It now appears that the new provider of the new, higher NEA referred loan is completely different to what was being suggested on the Gov website and Start-up Loan Company website. Thank god.

My NEA new loan providers have confirmed that the new loan is for up to £2,500 at 6% interest. It can be paid back over 1-3 years with a capital holiday of up to 1 Year. No selling to prove viability of the business before completing the loan application as feared.

It has also been confirmed that the start date for the new higher NEA referred loan is the date that you get your business plan signed off. Its not as first feared from the date of referral from JCP on to pre NEA.

The terms and conditions of the NEA referred loan are the same as the original NEA loans. So, if your business is excepted as viable though your business plan. Then, the loan should be granted without conditions.

Application forms being sent over later today. Loan should be in place in around two weeks. Fingers crossed!

very_trying

Spoke to Jobcentre Plus today and they seem very unhelpful about this!
Does anyone know if you have to have been on Jobseekers for any length of time before being accepted by this scheme please?
Also, I am on jobseekers and also have been running own business only working 10 hours a week, but want to start something different and been told that you can't claim it if you are already self employed? please help as they don't seem to know what they are doing??