New Enterprise Allowance scheme - My story

chummyextreme747

I've been recently referred to NEA by a member of the jobcentre staff.
I didn't ask to be referred, but the JC staff member said "why don't you go along, you've got nothing to loose?" 'Probably because I was self employed before my last JSA claim period.

So far I've had four meetings with a mentor. During this time, I've completed a business plan and I'm now filling in a first year cash flow template.

chummyextreme747

I've noticed that my last JSA payment was 10 days late, and the following one is now 8 days late.

I assume those late payments have no link to me being referred to NEA?
I hope not.

If the transition from JSA to NEA goes ahead, I hope it'll be seamless?

DylanO

WPN wrote: »

You must show you will employ someone within the first year.

WPN wrote: »

and you cannot get NEA unless its probable that you will employ someone...

I'm sorry but this just isn't true. I have just had my business plan approved and it's very clear that I won't be employing anyone.

Do you have any direct experience of the NEA scheme? If I had read your posts before I had applied, I might well have been put off, but thankfully I didn't, because, for me, this has been a hugely positive experience and well worthwhile.

The NEA scheme is not suitable for every kind of business, and nor should it be. It's perfect for the people who have the skills required to do a particular job as a sole trader, but haven't the financial security to enable them to go for it.

I'm not sure what businesses you were expecting the NEA to support? If you want to open your own shop/bakery/building company, then you can't do that without having a significant amount of money behind you - not something that the majority of people on JSA have.

I will add that while my mentor has been fantastic, the Job Centre has been less than stellar. With the exception of one person (who wasn't even my advisor - she just offered to look something up for me, and then kept helping me from her end) they were atrocious. It's sickening to me that the one person who went out of their way to actually help me, is someone who is on a temporary contract and will be unemployed within a few months.

The eight months I have been unemployed have been the worst of my life. I should probably count myself lucky that my problems are relatively minor, but I wouldn't go through it again for anything. It is as if the JCP has forgotten that it is there to help people back into work, not assess entitlement and get rid of people the easiest way possible. The majority of the advisors I saw didn't even attempt to look at my job search.

Although, going from the type of claimants I experienced during my signing days - I can't really blame them. It wasn't unusual to see people turn up in pajamas, or shouting about their various issues. I was shocked when I was presented with that little booklet they give you - I had assumed that it was to fill before your next appointment - but alas not. I reverted to a spreadsheet, while some other claimants were on the same booklet for months on end. One man, who I seemed to see every time I was there always insisted on telling me that there was "nothing out there, nothing going". Fortnight after fortnight, it would be the same story, but he always feigned disbelief when I got my file out and showed him the jobs I had applied for.

For those that care - 703 jobs. I keep spreadsheet records of:
1. where I found the job
2. when I found it
3. when I applied
4. how I applied
5. what response I received
6. the closing date
7. an appropriate date to chase up
8. contact details for the employer
9. interview date and details
10. final response

I also keep either a screenshot, a PDF or the printed ad for each job, the same for every email/contact, proof of postage for anything sent through the post, notes on telephone calls made (and the appropriate screenshots from my itemised bill) as well as a simple word document with notes in.

It took extra time, obviously, but what else was I going to do? Add to that all the horror stories I had heard of the Job Centre looking for any excuse to deny you a payment - thankfully, it never came to that. And thankfully, it's all over now.

BigAunty

Congratulations, DylanO, you are reaping what you sow. I think the NEA scheme with its emphasis on a mentor and a proper business plan is a much better way of kick-starting a business than those who simply notify the HMRC they are self employed and start claiming tax credits without doing any preparatory activities, they just sleep walk into it, lulled by the cushion of benefits for an indefinate period.

I look forward to getting an update from you in the future after your business is up and running, I wish you every success.

DylanO

BigAunty wrote: »

Congratulations, DylanO, you are reaping what you sow. I think the NEA scheme with its emphasis on a mentor and a proper business plan is a much better way of kick-starting a business than those who simply notify the HMRC they are self employed and start claiming tax credits without doing any preparatory activities, they just sleep walk into it, lulled by the cushion of benefits for an indefinate period.

I look forward to getting an update from you in the future after your business is up and running, I wish you every success.

Thank you. You are completely right. With the NEA you have to have done your research and be prepared for every eventuality. The companies that run the scheme have almost as much invested in the scheme as the claimant. They need to be sure that every business they approve is viable and will survive six months/a year/two years etc. If they don't, then questions will be raised about their (and the NEA itself) effectiveness.

I think Tax Credits are killing off real entrepreneurial spirit. I'm too young (Ha!) to be able to claim them, but if I were, it would be something ridiculous like £52 a week. What kind of incentive is that for anyone to make their business a go? If someone has survived (probably quite happily judging by some I saw) on £53 a week (plus other benefits), then giving them this and not expecting them to have to grow their business to a self-sustaining level is outrageous.

All it's really doing is keeping the unemployed out of the unemployment figures by stealth.

These last eight months have really opened my eyes about both sides of the benefit debate.

Merlina6

Interesting to read people's experiences with NEA. I am extremely frustrated at present: my business plan has been accepted, my jobcentre advisor has been very supportive and helpful, as has my NEA mentor who has run some useful group sessions...

BUT, their collegues at the St Austell office dealing with my JSA have managed to create a total NIGHTMARE and are seriously undermining my ability to get on with trying to make my business a success...........:(

This is because I was already doing some part time self employed work whilst claiming JSA. I have been declaring this and filling out all the B7 forms. There was a backlog of invoices that had built up, which meant I was paid in one go for work going back over several months. Since I had declared this on the B7 forms as work I was going to eventually be paid for, they should have been expecting that at some stage I would be declaring a payment. But as soon as I declared it, they immediately suspended my JSA and I received one of those horrible standard letters informing me I am not entitled to JSA because I 'failed' to provide the information - when I DID provide all the information that THEY have failed to process properly. I have been in touch with them, sent the info they needed, written, made phone calls, made a formal complaint.

They STILL haven't sorted it out - they have all the information and it's just sitting there in their office. In the mean time, I have stopped my JSA claim and signed over onto the NEA. So I'm left with zero income at present, because of the time needed to process working tax credits, and the fact that not only has JSA stopped, but I have not been paid for the last four weeks prior to signing off. :mad:


Both my NEA mentor and advisor have been helpful in getting my NEA payments processed promptly, so they have now started to come through, and I have some savings in the bank that I have been able to fall back on. I could just about manage, even with the continuing delay in outstanding JSA...but now, thanks to the 'wonderful' Swindon Borough Council, I have today received a council tax calculation where all my council tax benefit has been cancelled from the point where my JSA was suspended - again, this is despite the fact I responded to their request for information, triggered by the suspension of my JSA, explaining the situation and filling out a 'zero income' declaration to cover my present circumstances, and providing bank statements as proof. :mad:


And of course, when I try to phone them, the call centre (you can only ever speak to a call centre) tells me their system is down so they can't even look into it :T

So I'm now drained, totally frustrated, and powerless in the face of a mindless bureaucracy over which I have no control, facing the possibility of getting into spiralling debts and health problems due to stress, before I've even had a chance to get started in my business._pale_

This is how the Tory Government and Swindon Borough Council support local enterprise. Yeah right. Fantastic. Great job. :T :mad:


Sorry to go on so much - but just need to vent my frustration and 'name and shame' St Austell Benefits office and Swindon Borough Council. Re whether the NEA is worth going for or not - I'd say generally yes, if you get a good mentor, supportive JC+ advisor and can avoid getting caught up in the incompetence of the numpties that work in other departments and the local council.

PlymouthSound

thanks for a great thread, its been very interesting and informative

i was wondering what peoples experience has been like with receiving housing benefit when self employed through the nea scheme? this is my biggest concern, because it could take some time for the business to start earning, i know you get one month after you sign off from the job centre, and apparently if you're a low earner you can still get help with housing benefits.

how have people found this? i've been to my council a few times, but they're so unhelpful that i leave none the wiser.

Hevding

I was on the NEA scheme but a few days ago found out I had been "Kicked Off" the scheme without warning.

I was starting up my business with The Princes Trust while I was unemployed and despite being completely open with the Job Centre about this, they never once mentioned the scheme to me, I was told about it by The Princes Trust. (Who have been very helpful providing me with a local business mentor and a loan of £2,400 at 3% APR)

I went through the necessary steps for the NEA scheme and then they started paying the money into my account, after 4 weeks they asked for proof of trading. I was completely honest with them and told them I had not yet started trading as I was still purchasing equipment but planned to launch in the next couple of weeks. I filled in forms stating this when asked and then I received a letter saying I had to pay all the money back they had already deposited into my account (Which was £325) so I sent the money straight back using my debit card over the phone, the payment went through and was inside the deadline they gave me.

I then emailed them to tell them I was launching the Business on the 1st April and they sent me a return email saying I was no longer on the scheme.

I've spoken with the Job Centre about this and they said that the NEA's decision is final and all I can do is write an appeal letter.

Has this happened to anyone else?

I also found their service very poor, after sending me the initial welcome pack (Which I already had completed) the next time they contacted me was to ask for proof of trading and then to claim their money back.

I feel let down immensely by this, I have already started paying the loan off but without the money from the NEA scheme I'm not sure I'll be able to fulfil the payments for long. My only option might be to scrap the business and look for a full time Job.

So are they trying to get people to create businesses or are they just trying to get them off JSA?

panny12

I saw a small postcard about this enterprise scheme on the table at my local JC the other day, can i please ask a few questions..

How long do you have to claim JSA for before you can approach the JC and apply for this? I've been on the dole for 10 weeks now.
Does your benefit end when in the process or once you have started trading?
Do you still need to sign on every 2 weeks or is this replaced by your mentor time?

many thanks

Elvisia

Ha - just found this thread - I was offered this by my JC advisor (who is an idiot, and even his colleagues said to me he was an idiot). I used to be a professor teaching business plans so I wrote up my own plan, and I had everything ready to go. I kept asking my advisor who said I was on the list, and I waited, and waited and waited. Eventually spoke to another advisor (who was sat on the desk next to my advisor, I just couldn't cope speaking to him anymore) who came over to his computer and saw my advisor had written my name down on some random spreadsheet that was for something else entirely. I wasn't even on the waiting list for this.

Needless to say I have signed off, got bits of work myself and it's growing now quite nicely into a business on its own.