Sick pay for self-employed

Andrea25

My friend's husband had an accident at home and he is unable to work, currently bed bound.  He is the main earner in the family but he is self employed with a high income. My friend works 20h per week on minimum wage and they have 2 young children but currently do not qualify for child benefits. 
Does anyone know what type of support is available for people in this situation? They are struggling to make ends meet and surely there should be temporary support available for someone that pays thousands of pounds in taxes every year. He should be back on his feet in about 6 months. 
The gov website is a maze and for someone that has never claimed any benefits ever it's proving very difficult to look for the relevant information. 
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you

DullGreyGuy

This is why he should have bought income protection insurance

Is he actually self employed (aka sole trader) or the director of a limited company that he's also the majority shareholder of?

Andrea25

He works on the rigs. I am not sure if he is a sole trader or not. 

peteuk

Not entitled to Statutory Sick pay as self employed, usually in such cases there may be an insurance policy to cover illness/time off work.

Im no expert but given his high income this may exclude them from means tested benefits.  Universal Credit would be a joint claim and it can be claimed if unable to work due to illness.  If they have savings greater than £16000 then they wont be able to claim.

Hopefully someone with more knowledge will delve deeper into incomes soon.

poppy12345

As self employed, if he's paid the correct amount of NI contributions in the previous 2 tax years then he can claim New style ESA but it only pays £77/week. He will need a fit note to claim this.

As a couple they can use a benefits calculator to check entitlement to Universal Credit. They will need to put both their details into the calculator. If they have savings/capital of more than £16,000 they'll be excluded from claiming.

If both ESA and UC are claimed together the ESA will be deducted in full from any UC entitlement. https://www.entitledto.co.uk/benefits-calculator/Intro/Home?cid=50adce9f-dd93-4122-8b69-1a97230219be

MrsBrooks13

I may be wrong but my understanding of child benefit is everyone who has child and is resident in the UK is entitled to claim it, you just pay it back in the form of the ‘Higher income charge’ through your subsequent tax return? 

That’s how many non-working mum’s continue to have their NI credits even though they don’t work or have any other benefits. The higher-earning partner just pays it back through their tax return the following tax  year. 

I’d tell your friend to contact the Child Benefit office and enquire about making a claim for child benefit in her name and just pay it back through her partner’s tax return. By the time that is due, it sounds like he’ll be back in employment anyway. 

No doubt someone will correct me if I’m wrong 😑 

Dazed_and_C0nfused

My friend works 20h per week on minimum wage and they have 2 young children but currently do not qualify for child benefits. 

They have almost certainly misunderstood. 

If they are their children and the children live with them I can't think of anything that would stop them from getting Child Benefit.

Andrea25

Thank you very much for your comments. Very helpful 

calcotti

MrsBrooks13 said:

I may be wrong but my understanding of child benefit is everyone who has child and is resident in the UK is entitled to claim it, you just pay it back in the form of the ‘Higher income charge’ through your subsequent tax return?..

I’d tell your friend to contact the Child Benefit office and enquire about making a claim for child benefit in her name and just pay it back through her partner’s tax return. 

It's simpler to claim Child Benefit but ask not to be paid it. Then they get the NI credits but don't have to deal with the tax.
https://www.gov.uk/child-benefit/what-youll-get

You can make a claim and opt out of getting payments if you do not want to pay the charge. You can still get the other advantages provided by Child Benefit, like National Insurance credits.

Obviously people may choose to take the payments, put them in a savings account and earn a little interest on them before they have to later be paid back.

sheramber

It may be that  for previous years  his income was too  high  and they declined payment.

It will depend on what his income for current year is. As the  OP states he is high earner it may be that his income will still be over the limit.

Spoonie_Turtle

Just to be clear for OP so they can tell their friend, UC is calculated on actual received income not designated salary.  So if the husband is not bringing in any income whilst ill, it's very possible they may qualify unless they have savings over £16,000.

They should urgently do a benefits calculation as already advised in the thread, based on their actual current income, to see if they are entitled to any UC, because if they are they need to claim ASAP as it can't be backdated.