Self employed serious operation entitlement.

Stevelime

Hi, 1st post on here.
I'm a self employed electrician.
I've been diagnosed with a heart defect and I'm due to be admitted to hospital for open heart surgery.
I'll be in hospital for about 3 weeks and I'll be convalescing for about 3 months before i can return to work (estimated)
Am I entitled to any help with my rent and expenses?
Thanks
Steve

Caz3121

any income protection insurance?
do you live alone? have you paid class 2 NI?

calcotti

You will be entitled to claim Universal Credit provided you do not have more than £16,000 of capital/savings. This includes help with your rent.

https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/benefits/universal-credit/

If you have been paying Class 2 NI contributions and have a full record for April 2016 to March 2018 you can claim new style ESA. If you claim both ESA and UC the ESA will be deducted from the UC. https://www.gov.uk/guidance/new-style-employment-and-support-allowance

UC is means tested, ESA is not.

You can use a benefit calculator to check what you might get https://www.gov.uk/benefits-calculators.

Rubyroobs

As above, Universal credit and new style ESA. You will need to hand in sick notes to UC and first payment can take approximately 5 weeks to be paid although you may be able to apply for an advance. Any savings between 6k-16k will reduce your Uc entitlement.

calcotti

Note the amount of help with rent you can get in any UC award is limited by the number of bedrooms you are allowed and the Local Housing Allowance for your post code https://lha-direct.voa.gov.uk/