Self employed UC + Deliveroo?

Dirtypunk76

Hi All,

I will talk to UC people about this but didn’t want to set anything in motion until I work out what I’m doing.

I’m currently on UC and self employed. It’s a new venture and it’s not regular income yet but hopefully will be within a few months.

As I am recording my own income each month as a self employed UC claimant, does anyone know if I can work some Deliveroo shifts on months where I don’t have much work? My thinking is it’s still self employed income, and UC don’t seem particularly bothered about the work I do, just whether or not I’m earning money.

I don’t want to lose my self employed status with UC, and I don’t want to sign off completely just yet as the income isn’t reliable. Obviously the sooner I can sign off the better but I’ll need to see how it works out first.

Any advice?

Dirtypunk76

Or another way of putting it: as long as I report the income to UC do I even need to tell them where it comes from?

huckster

The advice is to be totally open and honest, reporting ALL earnings when these are received.

You are not in a unique position, as many self employed will take other small jobs to help them get by.

Don't be tempted to think that it is easier not to bother advising DWP, as the onus is on you under legislation to keep DWP informed. If you don't keep DWP informed of earnings, you can be subject to investigation, civil penalty, overpaid UC treated as a debt etc. If you research the possible consequences of not advising DWP of anything important affecting your benefit claim, you will see the possible consequences.

Dirtypunk76

Thank you for taking the time to answer, but I probably haven’t explained myself very well.

I’ve got no intention of misleading them or hiding any income, quite the opposite.

What I’m getting at is that as far as I understand I need to either be looking for a full time job at minimum wage or above along with regular meetings with a work coach, or, as is currently the case, I am classed as self employed, report my earnings every month and need to meet the minimum income floor by the end of 12 months.

I do not want to return to job hunting. So what I’m asking is: on the assumption that Deliveroo is classed as self employed earnings, is there any reason I can’t do that alongside my other self employed work on quiet months as long as I declare all income?

I’m hoping that this will mean most months I will exceed my UC payment and there will not actually need a UC payment.

However that’s not guaranteed so I don’t want to sign off completely just yet.