Self employed/too ill to work what do I do?

Mouser1022

Hi all, hoping for advice. I'll summarise the situation and any advice iro my business, home arrangements, job seeking or benefit advice.. id welcome it all.

I've been self employed 24 years following diagnosis of a rare disease. It makes it impossible to do a 9 to 5 job outside of the home. So I sell handmade items via my website &etsy. I've built a good business which ticked over nicely and which I could shut when my illness flared & I was hospitalised. I work throughout the day and night so prioritise orders, then depending which part of my body is playing up I make the parts I need ie if I cant use my hands at all im buggered but if I can use my right I can still sew but cant use my hot glue gun or iron. If my speech isnt working I cant do videos or answer customer calls or have customers at my house for fittings. If im unable to open my eyelids completely then I cant answer emails. If I have a tiny slit open I can sew. I use a wheelchair out of the house but can bumble about in the house. My husband packs all my orders & takes 2 weeks off at our busiest time to help me. I have around £70k in materials and £20k in equipment. I get pip at the highest amount and when I had my assessment the assessor came to my house and I showed him how I can even work whilst laid up in bed unable to move my lower half albeit with assistance. I have never claimed anything else as my profit was always around £12000 for an average 7 months of work. Due to my illness I never know daily if I can sew, talk, walk or move my arms or worse case breathe. So if im poorly during the day I could always work at 2am for example. So its suited us having an online business.

With so many changes to overseas postal rules and 75% of my business being with the USA customers ive been hit badly. My sales are almost non existent and when I do sell , the service clients are expecting is unbelievable.

Family wise my hubby works 40 hours per week for the emergency services, does all the cooking and cleaning and is my unpaid carer. We have 19 cats , and my mum is just about to move in. She cant walk and has severe copd. I honestly dont know how we will look after her.

We had £9000 in savings and have had to change the house structure for her to move in so have £1000 left.

Ive gone over our overdraft limit so now at £2500. We have a mortgage .. £12k left on it now arrears. 1 credit card £13000. No loans etc.

My health has gone downhill and I can barely get to the bathroom alone now.

Is it worth selling my materials and closing. How will i look after my mum and work if I carry on. Can I sign on for sickness benefit or would it be job seekers allowance. Im just flummoxed and I guess cant see the wood for the trees. Any advice would be appreciated and feel free to ask questions.

Thanks

marcia_

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6688023/self-employed-too-ill-to-work-what-do-i-do

you would need to make a joint claim for universal credit with your husband. How much you might get depends on his income and will be reduced because you have savings over £6000

https://benefits-calculator.turn2us.org.uk

Have you been paying national insurance?

19 cats, really, when you are struggling is that wise

itsthelittlethings

Hi Mouser. I hope you are ok. It all sounds very worrying. I would contact CAB to see what you may be entitled to. Your husband's salary would affect what Universal Credit you are entitled to however it used to be that if you are placed into the health support group, you would not be means tested. I don't know if that has changed. You definitely need to take advice. It's also not a quick process claiming UC on ill health grounds. You might be able to claim Carers allowance if you are caring for your mum.

I'd also speak to your GP and any local carers organisation you can find (the GP may be able to put you in touch with them) about how you will cope when your mum moves in. Perhaps ask your GP for a referral to Social Care if your mum needs care you can't provide.

Grumpy_chap

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82179908#Comment_82179908

I read that the OP only has £1k savings remaining.

As you mentioned, a joint UC claim with the husband. OP's health related benefits may be outside of means testing.

I would certainly suggest not getting any more cats.

What is the mother contributing to household costs when she moves in? Does mother have income or, if not, is she eligible for benefits in her own right?

It might be helpful to the OP to prepare a full budget - perhaps use the SoA template available in the DfW area of these forums.

Statement of Affairs

Debt-free Wanabee

FlorayG

I understand about your cats, I really do. Currently I only have 3 but that's only because of natural wastage and not taking on any more.

Can your mother get carers visits? Can she claim anything?

As to selling off your business only you know the details of the worth of it, it's so sad how the state of the USA has affected so many small businesses in other countries

Sorry I can't offer any practical advice, just wanted to offer sympathy

soolin

I fear a lot of advice might seem harsh but you’re in a horrible situation and I’m worried you could make it worse . Firstly follow the excellent advice about checking for benefits, when other regulars log in they will be able to offer suggestions about how to check you get everything you are entitled to.

Secondly, and perhaps this seems harsh , 19 cats, unless you live in a mansion is excessive and cannot be healthy, can you see about getting some rehomed . Is your mother able to cope with cats seeing as she has COPD?

Thirdly , is it in your mother’s best interest to move in with you? It sounds like your husband has enough on his plate with working looking after 19 cats and caring for you, can he honestly cope with any more without making himself ill as well? Is there nowhere else your mother can live, perhaps an assisted or supported living flat where she can be safe but perhaps nearer you?

Vitor

I find some of this rather difficult to reconcile. You have £90,000 tied up in business materials and equipment, yet you're in mortgage arrears with substantial credit card and overdraft debt. Why hasn't selling surplus stock been a priority?

You also have 19 cats, a husband working full-time whilst providing your care, and you're now proposing to bring another severely disabled person into the household. Even a devoted spouse has limits.

With respect, these arrangements sound completely unsustainable, both financially and practically.

Before considering further benefits, surely the priority is to establish what your business assets are actually worth, reduce household commitments and obtain professional financial and social care advice?

whizzywoo

Several years ago when I got to retirement age I stopped my self employed business as I was too ill to carry on with it. I claimed Pension Credit and the remaining assets of the business were classed as part of my Capital.

The point I am trying to make is that be very realistic about what your business assets are worth. They are certainly not going to be worth what you paid for them. £70,000 in materials and £20,000 in equipment is quite high for a small home business. If you were to sell them how much could you raise?

Whatever you can raise from sale of materials and equipment could be used to pay off the overdraft, credit card and take the mortgage payments out of arrears. Then depending on how much is left you could pay off the mortgage completely, make sure you have enough equipment necessary for the care of yourself and your mother and replace any furniture, white goods etc which are coming to the end of their life. Possibly you would need some sort of assisted vehicle for yourself and Mum too.

Do a budget detailing realistic sale values for the business assets and what you could spend that money on to reduce your debts, make life easier etc. Then see if the Capital remaining would be lower than the capital limits of £6,000 and £16,000 for Universal Credit. But as the other posters have said a lot depends on your husband's salary too.

Oh and I do sympathise with you about the loss of sales to America. My business was Etsy and the majority of my customers were from the United States. Many of them do have a very inflated idea of entitlement. 😅

KxMx

Given what you've posted, you can't look after your Mum. It sounds like you are currently in a very bad place health wise. Speaking from experience, you'll try caring for her anyway and ruin your own health even further.

Your husband already works ft, cares for you, the animals and all the domestic tasks. He doesn't have capacity for another person in need of care either.

External arrangements for carers coming in for Mum, or a change of plans so she doesn't after all move in.

There will be a wait but I'd suggest you & hubby explore what support there is from local authority for the two of you. Plus an assessment for Mum, whatever the living arrangements end up as.

https://www.nhs.uk/social-care-and-support/help-from-social-services-and-charities/getting-a-needs-assessment/

https://www.nhs.uk/social-care-and-support/support-and-benefits-for-carers/carer-assessments/

soolin

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82180049#Comment_82180049

I forgot to add to my earlier post but you have reminded me. I'm a small business as well, started winding down over the past few years but basically been selling online and at small fairs etc for 35 years or so alongside 'proper' work. I was shocked by the stock and materials that OP is holding, £90k in stock and material but only around £12k pa in profit is not a sensible business plan and the thought of that much stuff terrifies me.

When I was turning over around the 12k mark I always kept stock to no more than 2K on the basis that if markets changed or I got bored I could afford to sell remaining stuff at a loss and not lose a great deal. My markets have changed and I've been able to 'dump' stock with very little regret - even recently I took several boxes of new items to a local charity shop and effectively wrote off the £4o it had cost me - as losing the £40 on stuck stock just freed up room in storage to enable me to buy fresh profitiable stock.

OP, if you don't feel you can carry on with the business then look to start liquidating stock and materials slowly, don't flood your market. However be careful as you also need to be mindful of the benefits situation - and you don't want to turn potential 'dead stock' into savings that might affect your entitlement. You also need to be mindful of how your stock and materials is dealt with in your accounts and if necessary take professional advice as to the best way to start liquidating. £90k in stock andmaterials is an unfathomable amount of stuff and needs to be dealt with carefully.

On a side note I do still emphasise my concern about adding more pressure onto your husband , if he breaks under the strain then the household situation will become dire.

huckster

Agree sell some of the materials and use money to pay off debts. If you are not going to use them, then selling them would be sensible.

In regard to benefits, use an online benefits website like Entitledto or Turn2us to check on possible entitlement. Universal Credit would have to be joint with husband, so his employment earnings may affect entitlement. If you have paid class 2 National Insurance as self employed, you may be able to claim New Style ESA, if you get a Doctors fit note saying work capability is affected by health. ESA does allow claimants to continue limited work without it affecting the benefit. This is known as permitted work, where someone is working less than 16 hours per week and earnings £203.50 or less per week net income.

You need independent financial advice about debts. Lenders have a responsibility towards vulnerable customers, so if the Bank or Mortgage company are not aware of your circumstances, you should inform them.