JSA Advice and Self Employment

Daniel7623

Hi Everyone,

I'm aged 20 and been doing on and off self employment as a Graphics Designer for small firms in the UK and been trying to grow the business as much as i can until i get enough income coming in. Sometimes my work is on and off, meaning that sometimes i get work and sometimes i don't, which is known for S/E, I can go for 6-8 months without earning a penny, then all of a sudden some work will pop up and i could earn £1,000 in one week, then it will go dead for 4 months. It's basically part time right now and one off sort of payments.

Is this ok to declare on the B7 form and only lose one weeks job seekers? I've questioned it about 5 times in the job centre and also phoned up to ask about this, they said you only lose one week of JSA and then get paid the following week, even though i have earned e.g: £1,500 for an example in one week, the week before? Yes, the work i carry out can be done under 16-hours as well.

BigAunty

Have you considered ditching self employment and just looking for a full time position? That way you build up contacts, a portfolio, a reputation, business skills but are learning while earning?

You can go SE later when you are more experienced. Tax credits may be phased out in the next few years but if Universal Credit is scrapped then you could perhaps qualify for working tax credits which are payable to single people age 35 and over.

The Princes Trust help those under the age of 30 to launch their business and they do this with a mentor, proper business plan and so on.

Currently even a National Minimum Wage job would bring in many times greater than you earn as a freelance.

Daniel7623

BigAunty wrote: »

Have you considered ditching self employment and just looking for a full time position? That way you build up contacts, a portfolio, a reputation, business skills but are learning while earning?

You can go SE later when you are more experienced. Tax credits may be phased out in the next few years but if Universal Credit is scrapped then you could perhaps qualify for working tax credits which are payable to single people age 35 and over.

The Princes Trust help those under the age of 30 to launch their business and they do this with a mentor, proper business plan and so on.

Currently even a National Minimum Wage job would bring in many times greater than you earn as a freelance.

Thanks for the reply,

I wouldn't be able to ditch self employment completely as I have clients which rely on me for work when they need it, plus it would be a waste of my time building such business so far and then ditch it. @minimum wage: Totally agree, i have been looking for some part-time work to do rather than relying on the job centre.

I know the business isn't bringing much in at the moment, but its fairly new and is expanding, which is why I am currently signed on. I have worked with princes trust already for two years to build the business up till now, which has been very successful, its just that its quite hard for me bring regular business in when targeting SMEs.

Until i find some good part-time work, I would need to remain signed on for help with income at the moment. I do totally agree @working tax credits, wish I were a little bit older as this would be more ideal.

I enjoy working, i can't see myself being signed on for long. Although, for now I was just wondering if its ok to declare this sort of money when claiming JSA? they says its alright, but just getting some advice off others.

Jude_Ann

Don't worry about it. As long as you declare any hours worked and any earnings received at your fortnightly signing it is up to the DWP how they treat it. They may take part time earnings into account in the week received or. if they think that this irregular work is part of your normal pattern, and they may average your earnings over a longer period.