Falling through the cracks - am I eligible for any COVID support?

maracles

I'm currently struggling having been unemployed by my main occupation since the second week of March with no government support. I had small savings but they've run dry and now I'm trying to if there is some kind of support I've missed. 

Situation
I work in predominately in the Film & TV industry as a technician, but also have a small side business I work in. This means I have the following employment status in a year:

• Self-employed for a portion of the Film & TV jobs
• Employed for the rest of the FIlm & TV jobs (between 15-30 different short-term employments in a given year for 1-5 day jobs)
• Employed via PAYE for the small business. 
  

The proportion to which my income came from each of these changed significantly between 18/19 and 19/20 tax years.

• 18/19. I was working more for the small business and on employed Film work. Only 25% of my income was self-employed. Profits were substantially less than 50k.
• 19/20. Only 10% came from the small business, 55% self-employed film work and the remainder 35% from employed film work. Profits were substantially less than 50k.

Applied Support
With the above in mind I have tried the following:

• Furlough. I was not employed by a film company after the March cut-off deadline so could not be furloughed by them. I am still doing part-time work for the small business so cannot be furloughed there. The amount being earned from this is only a couple of hundred per month, 
• SEISS. I am not eligible because in the tax year they take into account the % of my earnings from self-employment was below the threshold, as was the average over the prior 3 years 
• Universal Credit. My wife is still working making me ineligible.
• ESA. I am fit to work and cannot claim this.  
  

Having been caught a little off-guard by quite how long this would last I am looking for alternative employment now, but is there any support I can claim that might make my situation a little easier, or have I perhaps interpreted any eligibility criteria incorrectly? 

Jeremy535897

You could try asking the film company to rehire you and furlough you, depending on when you last worked for them. They don't have to.
You could look at whether you qualify for new style JSA:
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/new-style-jobseekers-allowance

maracles

Thanks, I did look into that today but I think the small amount I'm earning working for the small business disqualifies me from this unfortunately. I will look again to see if I've missed anything. 

Jeremy535897

maracles said:

Thanks, I did look into that today but I think the small amount I'm earning working for the small business disqualifies me from this unfortunately. I will look again to see if I've missed anything. 

You can work up to 16 hours a week for new style JSA.

poppy12345

Jeremy535897 said:

maracles said:

Thanks, I did look into that today but I think the small amount I'm earning working for the small business disqualifies me from this unfortunately. I will look again to see if I've missed anything. 

You can work up to 16 hours a week for new style JSA.

Yes indeed but earnings of more than £5 per week will reduce the JSA £1 for £1.

lozzarevs

Hi  I work in the Early Years Sector at a charity run Pre school. Early years can only claim for 30% of their funding and not the 80% for furloughed staff. All Staff were being paid 80% of their wages. Now the Pre school has reopened, half of the staff have returned to work and are getting paid their full wage for working less hours. The other  half of the staff have remained on furlough but their wages are being cut to 60%. Is the employer allowed to do this or should they still be paying 80% furlough as in the government guidelines?
Thanks 

sharpe106

I assume as the company could only claim for so many furloughed staff then they were topping the rest up themselves. Which was fair enough so even though not were being paid for the the government they were all in effect furloughed. What agreement did you sign when went on to furlough?
The employer needs to pass on all the money they claim for the furlough scheme, so for the ones they are claiming furlough they still need to pay what they are claiming, i.e. 80%. The ones that they are not claiming for and are still in effect furloughed would depend on what you signed. 

Grumpy_chap

The OP may be eligible for bounce-back loan.

Galloglass

You could try asking the film company to rehire you and furlough you, depending on when you last worked for them. They don't have to.

They have until tomorrow (10th) to get you onto the HMRC RTI system.

maracles

Thanks for the suggestions. I'm going to try and contact the last Film Company who was in February and I'm also looking into the possibility of the bounce-back loan. Article here if it is useful for anyone else:
https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/2020/05/small-business-boost-as-bounce-back-loans-launched/

Jeremy535897

maracles said:

Thanks for the suggestions. I'm going to try and contact the last Film Company who was in February and I'm also looking into the possibility of the bounce-back loan. Article here if it is useful for anyone else:
https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/2020/05/small-business-boost-as-bounce-back-loans-launched/

You would still have had to be on their books as an employee at 28 February 2020.