New Enterprise Allowance scheme - My story

Ravdalal · 26 April 2019 at 1:23AM

The New Enterprise Allowance is a complete joke and I would not recommend it to anyone on the planet unless you would like help to become incredibly in debt and possibly homeless.

In my situation I applied for the New Enterprise Allowance as I wanted to open my own Apple Service Centre. My work coach from the Jobcentre arranged for me to go to Gloucestershire Enterprise in April of 2018, I went through all the courses, got my business plan together and got it accepted. I started trading in August of 2018, things were slow to get started but thankfully I had Universal Credit to help me through this. Things slowly started to pick up where I started to break even and on occasion make a little profit. I kept being told that I should take more advantage of Gloucestershire Enterprise however this is fairly difficult to do when I am trying to get my business up and going therefor open 6 days a week, I got to April 2019 and the minimum income floor kicks in, this is when the DWP automatically assume that you are clearing £1091 per month in profit so enough to pay yourself and not invest any money in you business. I stared trading in a shop premises in August of 2018 therefor I would presume that the minimum income floor would kick in from August of 2019 however no, I went to Gloucestershire Enterprise in April of 2018 even though I did not start trading until August of 2018 the Jobcentre count the time while I go through Gloucestershire Enterprise while not trading as me trading and earning money even though you can’t start trading until everything has been accepted by Gloucestershire Enterprise.

My work coach did explain to me about the minimum income floor, I did explain to him that I did not actually start trading until August but no matter my universal credit will be reduced from April of 2019 from £717.82 per month to £30.45 per month, I explained that I could not afford to carry on with my business if that was the case and I would have to close, my work coach told me everything that I had to do which I did but then he said that he would like to see proof from the Inland Revenue that I have de-registered from being self employed. I de-registered from being self employed with HM Revenue and Customs online but can not get proof of it, I phoned the HMRC who were no help and told me that I needed to discuss this with the Jobcentre but the Jobcentre said I needed to speak to the HMRC so started going round in circles, I then thought give Gloucestershire Enterprise a call as they maybe able to tell me what to do but no, I then went to Citizens Advice but nothing they could not suggest anything on how to get proof that I have de-registered from being self employed. This has now left me needing to pay rent for my home, my shop, council tax, phone & Broadband for home and shop with £30.45, this is just not going to happen, so because of The New Enterprise Allowance I will now become more in debt than when I started and I may even loose my home as I can not pay the rent.

Be very careful before embarking on The New Enterprise Allowance.

:(:(

huckster · 26 April 2019 at 8:45AM

If you are unhappy with any decision, you can complain. Perhaps ask your local MP if they can make enquiries with DWP, as you have tried to resolve and are not getting anywhere.

My belief was that the minimum income floor only started 12 months, after you started trading. So if you have evidence of the official start date for the business, then the Job Centre Work Coach can ensure the MIF applies from the correct date.

YouandMeBoth · 12 September 2019 at 2:21PM

I was enrolled then came-off 2 weeks ago. The best thing I did.

I was promised support but never received it - nothing. The Consultant who worked with me said she only gets paid when my Business Plan is approved. I found that 'the Business Plan' was all she was interested in of course - then she'd get paid.

It's a waste of time. You are worse off financially on the program (also because you are paid less than benefits) and it effects your benefits big time.

Please, please think long and hard about joining the NEA!

Heard that the Program was ending this year. Anyone else hear this too?

NedS · 12 September 2019 at 3:01PM

In the example above, assuming Ravdalal was on UC at the time in question, the Start up period should have run from Aug 2018 - Aug 2019, and the MIF should have applied from then onwards.

huckster wrote: »

My belief was that the minimum income floor only started 12 months, after you started trading. So if you have evidence of the official start date for the business, then the Job Centre Work Coach can ensure the MIF applies from the correct date.

No, not quite. The MIF applies 12 months from the start of the AP in which you are found gainfully self employed, providing you have not been trading for more than 12 months. This is an area where unfortunately mistakes do sometime happen.

If I may use an example to illustrate how this may work.

Customer claims UC on 05/9/2019 and declares they are self employed. Customer has Self Employment meeting with work coach on 12/9/2019 and states they started their self employment on 1/1/2019. Is this within the last 12 months? Yes, so customer gets a 12 month start up period starting 05/9/2019 and ending 05/9/2020 at which point the MIF will apply. In this case the customer is getting an "effective" startup period of 20 months (1/1/19 to 5/9/20) but it should always be a full 12 months on UC.

If the customer started trading on or before 4/9/2018 (i.e, more than 12 months ago) then no start up period would be permitted and the MIF would apply immediately.

New Enterprise Allowance scheme - My story

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