Self employed cleaner

woody1481967

Hi
In October 2019 I became self-employed for the first time, my business is home cleaning.
The business was ok but with the coronavirus hitting the UK my customers have now cancelled their cleans and I have no clients.
To make things worse I have £19,000 worth of debts which I am currently paying minimum payments to, originally hoping that I could pay more when my business took off.
My partner works and is not currently on reduced hours but its coming I think.
Can I sign off as being self-employed? Can I claim any benefits (my partner earns £58k but we have high rent & bills) ?
What can I do about my liabilities? 

Thanks in advance for any advice offered.

calcotti

If you suspend your self employment you may be able to claim new style JSA which will pay you £73.10/week for 26 weeks https://www.gov.uk/guidance/new-style-jobseekers-allowance. You will need to have paid NI for the tax years 2017-18 and 2018-19.

for debt advice try StepChange https://www.stepchange.org/ although I expect they are very busy at the moment.