Husband setting up as Fork Lift Truck Instructor, can anyone help please?

Lizbetty

My husband is hoping to set up on his own as a fork lift truck instructor/NVQ assessor shortly (within next couple of weeks we hope!) but he's currently working all hours doing it for someone else and so getting stuff organised is difficult. I'm trying to help as best I can but with two kids under 2 it's not as easy as it might be!

I am in the process of getting his stuff together that he'd need to get started, getting quotes for insurance (aaargh!), tv/dvd combi and stationery stuff, but we're on a very tight budget and it's all a bit scary. It's quite a cheap set up compared to most I guess but it's still a lot for us at the mo.:o

The main questions I have are:

1. Does he need to get registered anywhere before we buy all the stuff to be able to claim it against his tax? It looks like sole trader is the best option from what I can gather, his earnings won't be huge (around £20k ish max we think). He hasn't got a company name at the mo (work in progress..) and it does feel odd that we haven't registered anywhere. It just feels like nothing's happening because we haven't told anyone official!

2. Can anyone shed any light on liability insurance? His friend who is currently instructing self employed pays around £300, but I got Si a quote which came out at £175..seems a bit difference so I'm wondering what I might've missed.

I wonder too if anyone else on MSE is doing this already and has any advice for us?

Si's a really hard worker and I know he'll do a good job, it's just the getting cracking bit that's difficult, esp with him up at 5am and home at 6ish at the mo putting up with a horrible boss for all those hours, as folk do - then the kids routine, then his mind's gone anyway. We're waiting for a call from Business Link in the next few days, but I'm hoping that I can make it easier and quicker for him by finding out as much as I can in the meantime, it seems so complicated but I'm sure you lovely people can help as always!

Thanks in advance for your time,

Lucy

Lizbetty

Anybody, please?

Debt_Free_Chick

Lucyeff wrote: »

1. Does he need to get registered anywhere before we buy all the stuff to be able to claim it against his tax? It looks like sole trader is the best option from what I can gather, his earnings won't be huge (around £20k ish max we think). He hasn't got a company name at the mo (work in progress..) and it does feel odd that we haven't registered anywhere. It just feels like nothing's happening because we haven't told anyone official!

Not necessarily before, but he must register as self-employed within three months of starting up. This is simply so the tax office knows and he will be asked to pay NI.

Anything bought for the business can be claimed. Even if he already owns stuff, he can "introduce" this as a business expense or asset. If an asset, then he'll probably need to claim a capital allowance, rather than an expense. You'll need to understand how accounts are drawn up and how expenses/capital expenditure is treated for tax purposes.

2. Can anyone shed any light on liability insurance? His friend who is currently instructing self employed pays around £300, but I got Si a quote which came out at £175..seems a bit difference so I'm wondering what I might've missed.

Difficult to know whether you got a quote for exactly the same insurance as your friend

I wonder too if anyone else on MSE is doing this already and has any advice for us?

We're waiting for a call from Business Link in the next few days, but I'm hoping that I can make it easier and quicker for him by finding out as much as I can in the meantime, it seems so complicated but I'm sure you lovely people can help as always!

To be honest, you'll find Business Link very helpful - have you looked on their website?

WHA

Well worth going to have a brief "free initial consultation" with 2 or 3 local accountants. You'll need one anyway (unless you want to spend a lot of time learning about tax and accounts yourself), and you'll pick up quite a few pointers. They can help you decide whether to be a sole trader or limited company, can tell you exactly what and how to claim for expenses and start up costs, and can help set up your book-keeping.

Lizbetty

Thanks for your replies!

We are getting bits of advice now from his friend/ex colleague who is already set up as an instructor and wants dh to subcontract for him (after he takes a cut), but it's difficult asking him as dh will eventually be in direct competition with him -I think he assumes dh will be subcontracting for him long term...bit of an awkward situation so we can't ask too much!

He's handed in his notice to his grumpy goat of a boss today and finishes at the end of this week, so we'll be able to arrange appts with some accountants soon, thanks for that advice!

He's decided to go as a sole trader and use his own bank account for payments for the time being to keep costs down.

We're still looking at insurance - Sydney Packett is a name which has come up a couple of times, once from his friend and once in the RTITB Accreditation pack, the premiums quoted on the leaflet look reasonable. They seem to do charity and training insurance, the training insurance is http://www.packetts.com/trainsure_home.htm and the charity insurance is http://www.sydneypacketts.com/sp_charities.htm

We're just looking into whether we can reclaim costs for getting accreditation back (it's £400 a year approx) and also the costs of the training packs (around £400 again but at least it's a one off cost..), just awaiting a reply from an email I sent to Business Link. And also looking into the horrible world of mobile phone tariffs...

Thanks again for your help!

Lucy