LTD Company Director - Support and Extension of Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme

bensim90

Hi Folks,

Any and all help and advice would be appreciated.

I am an employed director of a small one man band LTD company, the business is set up that way as opposed to being a sole trader for a great number of reasons. The industries I serve as all others has been hit hard reducing requirement for the products and services I supply resulting in a significant drop in my turn over. I do wholeheartedly appreciate these are the risks when someone works for themselves. Nevertheless I am facing difficulty currently and would like to take the opportunity to take support if I can as many others in many different situations have. The Buisness is most definitely viable moving forward unfortunately right now it covers its costs leaving me with little to nothing.

As a director I am one of those who has had little options of support throughout the pandemic. I do not have a premises so do not qualify for a number of supports I would have if I did. I did not qualify for The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) as my PAYE Real Time Information (RTI) is submitted once yearly and was done so after the March deadline. Using the MSE tool I don't seem to qualify for UC I believe (but am not sure) because my partner (not married) is unaffected but as far as I see it that's her income and not mine to live off of. I have been able to take full advantage of the Bounce Back Loan and this will support the business through this hardship but is not enough to also support me.

Have I missed anything that I may have qualified for until now? Are my assumptions on universal credit correct?

Lastly I know little about CJRS being that I wrote it off as above. However with the extension to the scheme I received a HMRC email stating:

"How to check if your employees are eligible

You can claim for employees who were on your PAYE payroll on 30‌ October 2020. You must have made a PAYE Real Time Information (RTI) submission to HMRC between 20‌ March 2020 and 30‌ October 2020, notifying a payment of earnings for that employee."

I assume this now means I am eligible for flexible furlough? Is this correct and can it be back dated for the rest of the year where I have only been working part time hours?

Any and all advice is appreciated and I look forward to your responses. Thank you.

Jeremy535897

CJRS has been extended for one month, and the details are here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/furlough-scheme-extended-and-further-economic-support-announced

You won't be able to backdate it because up to 31 October 2020, that date of 19 March 2020 was still the cut-off date.

bensim90

Jeremy535897 said:

CJRS has been extended for one month, and the details are here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/furlough-scheme-extended-and-further-economic-support-announced

You won't be able to backdate it because up to 31 October 2020, that date of 19 March 2020 was still the cut-off date.

Thanks for that!

Grumpy_chap

You should be eligible for the November furlough.  I don't think the full details have yet been published.  

bensim90

Grumpy_chap said:

You should be eligible for the November furlough.  I don't think the full details have yet been published.  

Thanks for the reply!

gary83

bensim90 said:

Hi Folks,

As a director I am one of those who has had little options of support throughout the pandemic. I do not have a premises so do not qualify for a number of supports I would have if I did. I did not qualify for The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) as my PAYE Real Time Information (RTI) is submitted once yearly and was done so after the March deadline. Using the MSE tool I don't seem to qualify for UC I believe (but am not sure) because my partner (not married) is unaffected but as far as I see it that's her income and not mine to live off of. I have been able to take full advantage of the Bounce Back Loan and this will support the business through this hardship but is not enough to also support me.

Have I missed anything that I may have qualified for until now? Are my assumptions on universal credit correct?

I’m assuming you live together with your partner? If so then the government treats you as a unit & expects you to work together as a team and support each other through hard times If able before turning to them, whether you’re married or not. 

Appreciate it’s probably not your first choice of support but if all else fails have you thought about topping up the BBL?

Grumpy_chap

gary83 said:

Appreciate it’s probably not your first choice of support but if all else fails have you thought about topping up the BBL?

Unless the rules change, any company can only have one BBL and top-up is not permitted.
The Government have indicated that some further loan schemes will be along in the New Year.  That could be a long time for the OP to wait and there is no guarantee that any new loan scheme will be available to small businesses or on the same favourable terms as BBLS, or other eligibility criteria.

gary83

Grumpy_chap said:

gary83 said:

Appreciate it’s probably not your first choice of support but if all else fails have you thought about topping up the BBL?

Unless the rules change, any company can only have one BBL and top-up is not permitted.
The Government have indicated that some further loan schemes will be along in the New Year.  That could be a long time for the OP to wait and there is no guarantee that any new loan scheme will be available to small businesses or on the same favourable terms as BBLS, or other eligibility criteria.

No, it’s hard to keep up at the moment but the rules already changed. Announced a couple of days ago, the deadline was extended & top ups are allowed 

https://twitter.com/rishisunak/status/1323304972935680000?s=21

Grumpy_chap

gary83 said:

No, it’s hard to keep up at the moment but the rules already changed. Announced a couple of days ago, the deadline was extended & top ups are allowed 

Thanks - I had not seen the update from 2nd November.  Now open until 31st January in the FAQ.
The FAQ does not seem to reflect the twit with regard to top-ups, unless I am reading that incorrectly.  The news story does say that BBLS can be "topped up" https://www.gov.uk/government/news/government-increases-support-for-self-employed-across-the-uk

Jeremy535897

See https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/932077/ECONOMIC_SUPPORT_UPDATE__NOVEMBER__FINAL.pdf

gary83

If the OP had already taken the maximum entitlement then the BBL top up is not an option, the rules are:

We will also adjust the Bounce Back Loan Scheme rules to allow those businesses who have borrowed less than their maximum (i.e. less than 25% of their turnover) to top-up their existing loan. Businesses will be able to take-up this option from next week; they can make use of this option once. We understand that some businesses didn’t anticipate the disruption to their business from the pandemic would go on for this long; this will ensure that they are able to benefit from the loan scheme as intended.

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/932077/ECONOMIC_SUPPORT_UPDATE__NOVEMBER__FINAL.pdf