self employed and universal credit

ellywellywoo

I am self employed and currently unable to work. My business is on hold until the government lift the restrictions.
So I understand that I maybe eligible for the grant in June as my average earnings fall under the limit of 50,000
Can I apply for universal credit as well as I currently have no income.
Am I allowed to have both ?
Do I have to look for work while all this is going on knowing that I will hopefully start my business again as soon as I can?

Thank you for any advice

campbeji

Hi,  I am not an expert, but I have just gone through this so the info I was given may not be correct but as far as I know it is.
Apply for UC asap, I don't think you can get it back dated (ask if you can), I applied at the end of March.  They have relaxed the rules for self employed people, you do not need to look for work during the lockdown, and you can also continue running the business if you get any work in.

I don't remember the name of it but you can ask for an advance on your benefit, it is repayable over the next year, this is because your first benefit payment won't come in for 5 weeks (they may have changed this to 4 weeks).
I also applied for, and got, a grant (it's called a contingency grant or something)

As I understand it you can keep getting UC until your income returns to the point where you no longer qualify for it.  The period when the 80% grant comes in will probably drop your UC to £0, and possibly after that if it puts your total savings over the limit.
They have also suspended the minimum earnings floor for the current crisis, so your actual earnings will be counted not some imaginary number.

The other restrictions on UC still apply, ie if you have a spouse/partner earning lots or if you have a bucket load of savings then forget about it.

The process for applying for all of this is pretty easy, I didn't even have to provide proof of earnings or anything, the appointments were all done on phone.  The hardest part was the online proof of Identity, the system was really slow and it failed for my wife, but during the appointment, they sorted it out.  To be honest I expected it to be a lot harder than it was.

Good Luck
Jim

calcotti

Clearly set out in the guidance
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/claim-a-grant-through-the-coronavirus-covid-19-self-employment-income-support-scheme

You can make a claim for Universal Credit while you wait for the grant, but any grant received will be treated as part of your self-employment income and may affect the amount of Universal Credit you get. Any Universal Credit claims for earlier periods will not be affected.

Jeremy535897

Backdating requires you to meet stringent requirements (real critical reasons for not claiming earlier).
UC is never repayable, apart from the up front grant, so long as the claim was valid. SEISS could impact UC for more than one month, but UC cannot impact SEISS.

Hermann

From the guidance updated today...
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/claim-a-grant-through-the-coronavirus-covid-19-self-employment-income-support-scheme

You can make a claim for Universal Credit while you wait for the grant, but any grant received will be treated as part of your self-employment income and may affect the amount of Universal Credit you get. Any Universal Credit claims for earlier periods will not be affected.

If you receive the grant you can continue to work or take on other employment including voluntary work.

If you have other employment as a director or employee which is paid through PAYE your employer may be able to get support using the Job Retention Scheme.