Claiming benefits - going self employed

Lucky_Phil_2

Hi All,

My current job officially finishes on 4 Jan but due to holidays accrued I finish on 21 Dec. I work as an accountant currently. I haven't claimed benefits/signed on in years but I am considering doing so soon

Got a few questions about obtaining benefits

1) Is the date I should first contact the Jobcentre 5 Jan due to my circumstances?
2) Is there a limit where you will receive no government benefits? Last time I signed on I think if you had over 16k in the bank then you would receive nothing. What if the assets are locked so you cannot touch them. Do you still have to declare these?
3) I am considering setting up my own practice. This includes costly licences and fees. Also going without any income for months. Can I get any funding for these? Is this something the JC would even consider helping me with?

Thanks
Phil

marcia_

Lucky_Phil_2 said:

Hi All,

My current job officially finishes on 4 Jan but due to holidays accrued I finish on 21 Dec. I work as an accountant currently. I haven't claimed benefits/signed on in years but I am considering doing so soon

Got a few questions about obtaining benefits

1) Is the date I should first contact the Jobcentre 5 Jan due to my circumstances?
2) Is there a limit where you will receive no government benefits? Last time I signed on I think if you had over 16k in the bank then you would receive nothing. What if the assets are locked so you cannot touch them. Do you still have to declare these?
3) I am considering setting up my own practice. This includes costly licences and fees. Also going without any income for months. Can I get any funding for these? Is this something the JC would even consider helping me with?

Thanks
Phil

 Yes all assets money and property need to be declared even if locked in 

Spoonie_Turtle

There are two possible benefits for you to claim.

Universal Credit is the means-tested one with the £16,000 savings/capital limit.  Capital includes any property which isn't your primary home in which you live.  Savings locked away will have a value taking into account any penalty if you were to access them early, but they are not ignored.  The only ignored savings are an official pension pot, or a few other very specific circumstances (like if you've sold your house and intend to buy another using the proceeds).

If you were to be able to claim UC, you can claim whenever but it is best to claim after your final wages otherwise your first payment would be reduced or even nil.

The other is JSA, only the contributions-based one is available so it is not means-tested (unless you have a pension income of more than £50/week, of which 50% all over the £50 would be deducted).  For JSA I don't know the specifics of when to claim but I think it is after your employment has ended.

Question 3 I have no idea, sorry.

poppy12345

Spoonie_Turtle said:

The other is JSA, only the contributions-based one is available so it is not means-tested (unless you have a pension income of more than £50/week, of which 50% over the £50 would be deducted).

That's not correct for New style JSA. Any pensions of up to £50/week are ignored. For anything over this the JSA is reduced £1 for £1. The 50% deduction only applies to New style ESA for pensions of more than £85/week.

See link and scroll to 3.1 page 15. https://www.ageuk.org.uk/globalassets/age-uk/documents/factsheets/fs56-benefits-for-people-under-state-pension-age.pdf

Spoonie_Turtle

poppy12345 said:

Spoonie_Turtle said:

The other is JSA, only the contributions-based one is available so it is not means-tested (unless you have a pension income of more than £50/week, of which 50% over the £50 would be deducted).

That's not correct for New style JSA. Any pensions of up to £50/week are ignored. For anything over this the JSA is reduced £1 for £1. The 50% deduction only applies to New style ESA for pensions of more than £85/week.

See link and scroll to 3.1 page 15. https://www.ageuk.org.uk/globalassets/age-uk/documents/factsheets/fs56-benefits-for-people-under-state-pension-age.pdf

Whoops!  Will correct my post, thank you.