New Enterprise Allowance scheme - My story

Jinks · 15 December 2015 at 4:19PM

Hi guys,

I'm also newly on NEA, though unfortunately my JCP advisor has never used the scheme before and is a bit clueless about the process! Fortunately I don't need the loan as I have no startup costs, but would anyone happen to know how long it should take for NEA payments to start? After my business plan was approved, I signed off JSA and signed the NEA paperwork, but that was three weeks ago and I haven't received a payment yet (unfortunately my JCP advisor is currently on a course so I can't get hold of her). The delay has meant I've had to borrow money from a relative for groceries, which is not a promising start to my new self-employment venture!

AG47 · 16 December 2015 at 9:05AM

Electrum wrote: »

A few questions about NEA please?

1. Do you get WTC based on your last years income, plus the NEallowance 65 per week for 13 weeks, followed by £33 per week for the following 13 weeks?

2. The following year when working out your income, does the NEAllowance count as income just as income from the business?

3. How long are you given if you cant make the business work, can you keep living off WTC trying to make the business work for 1 year or 2 years if there is still no profit?

4. If you do stop trading and go back on JSA after say 13 weeks or something, is it classed as a new claim? Will it take another year before they start pressuring you to do a work placement?

1. Yes

2. Yes

3. 1year

4. Yes as long as you signed off for 10 months at least

TrueBlue1965 · 18 December 2015 at 2:33PM

NEA payments dont effect Working Tax credits or any other benefits.

NEA payments dont count towards income when completing your end of year tax records!

NEA payments have nothing to do with Tax, Working Tax Credits or any other benefits! Think of the NEA payments as free money or money you already had in your bank account!

Yes, you can get Working Tax credits for as long as you are trading. This includes businesses not making a profit in years 2. 3, or more. The only stipulation is that your working the minimum number of hours and potentially can show that your working the minimum number of hours if asked to show evidence. Very few people/businesses will ever be askd to show eveidence!

JCP records stay with you for up to 2 years. So, yes, you could be placed on The Work Programme very quickly if you return to cliaming JSA after going on NEA for a short time. Everybody can expect to be placed on The Work programme or similar out of work support after being unemployed for 12 months. So, once you start claiming JSA, the clock is ticking and continues to tick even if you sign off for a period of time. The aim of JCP and The Work Programme is to get you back into full-time long term work.

Jinks, you should get your 1st NEA payment within two weeks as it is supposed to be seemless between JSA and the NEA payments. If your payments have not started by Monday. Get a JCP manager to get it sorted out. Someone in the back office at your JCP should be dealing with NEA payments. It just needs a Manager to push the payment through. Your doing your bit by starting a new business rather than signing on. The least they can do is get your NEA payments paid to you on time. Your a professional businessman now. Expect them to be professional too. Dont take no for a answer!

AG47 · 19 December 2015 at 12:53PM

TrueBlue1965 wrote: »

NEA payments dont effect Working Tax credits or any other benefits.

NEA payments dont count towards income when completing your end of year tax records!

NEA payments have nothing to do with Tax, Working Tax Credits or any other benefits! Think of the NEA payments as free money or money you already had in your bank account!

Yes, you can get Working Tax credits for as long as you are trading. This includes businesses not making a profit in years 2. 3, or more. The only stipulation is that your working the minimum number of hours and potentially can show that your working the minimum number of hours if asked to show evidence. Very few people/businesses will ever be askd to show eveidence!

JCP records stay with you for up to 2 years. So, yes, you could be placed on The Work Programme very quickly if you return to cliaming JSA after going on NEA for a short time. Everybody can expect to be placed on The Work programme or similar out of work support after being unemployed for 12 months. So, once you start claiming JSA, the clock is ticking and continues to tick even if you sign off for a period of time. The aim of JCP and The Work Programme is to get you back into full-time long term work.

Jinks, you should get your 1st NEA payment within two weeks as it is supposed to be seemless between JSA and the NEA payments. If your payments have not started by Monday. Get a JCP manager to get it sorted out. Someone in the back office at your JCP should be dealing with NEA payments. It just needs a Manager to push the payment through. Your doing your bit by starting a new business rather than signing on. The least they can do is get your NEA payments paid to you on time. Your a professional businessman now. Expect them to be professional too. Dont take no for a answer!

What if you stay self employed for two or three years then if the business still doesn't make a profit even though your putting the hours in, and you go back on Jsa, then you would have another 12 months before the work program wouldn't you?

Where is the cut off point then if it's longer than three years or something?

I understand if you went back on Jsa quite soon, then they may say you should go on work program, but if it's been a few years self employed then it's a whole new Jsa claim right?

TrueBlue1965 · 20 December 2015 at 10:38PM

Thats correct, AG47. It would be a new claim if you had been signed off JSA for several years. Universal Credit might change this once your in that system.

scmp · 18 February 2016 at 5:07PM

Wow this thread is so full of information!
Thank you everybody who has contributed so far, a lot of my questions have been answered!

My JC person called up the NEA today to refer me to the scheme. They will call me tomorrow between 9am and 5pm for a chat and arrange a place and time to meet a mentor and group.

Does anybody know what they will ask me tomorrow or is it just to put me with a mentor?

When i go to see the mentor for the first time what do i have to bring with me?

I have an 'idea'
I have made some templates of what i want to sell.
I have worked out my costs of material, time (my ph rate), expenses, NI, selling price and profit for each item.
I have approached shops to gauge if they are interested.
I have a list of market and fair dates that i want to sell at.
I have 3 websites to sign up to that i can sell from.

Is this enough for the mentor to accept me onto the course and make a busines plan?

HOW · 26 February 2016 at 4:13PM

I have read on this site that mentors are voluntary,and so it would seemingly be in their interests to tell you what you need to know without further fuss.
But from my experience up to date it seems I am being sent from one meeting to another without really getting anywhere or being told exactly how this things works,after 10 weeks of waiting and getting palmed off by job center ie.We are full for next 3 weeks,then,so& so is off ill. I finally got to to see someone who seemed really helpfull,but at second meeting(all of which cost quite a bit in fares) appeared not to have listened to a word I was saying,and then made another appointment in 2 days time for a "workshop" miles away at peak time,and seemed to be telling me that I would have to go to another 8 weeks of meetings for no apparent reason,by the time this goes through I will have been waitng nearly 5 months--any savings I had have been badly eaten in to just waiting the initial 10 weeks--by the time this is sorted out I will have no transport,or savings left--totally disheartening.
It seems I have learnt more reading information on the internet than I have in a total of 4 meetings with people who are supposed to know what this is about!-really has a "jobs for the boys" feel about it.

jennytablina · 1 June 2016 at 7:42PM

Posting here because I'm a bit lost

I've done the NEA process up to submitting my business plan & had it signed off from the workshop (but not appoved? I dunno). I was told after this in a week or so we'd have letters confirming everything and allowing us to actually progress into NEA itself.

At the end of the DYE BTEC workshop I found out our mentor is moving to another JS and now only visits our JS once a week. Heart sank as I know what happens when your caught in this situation (it's happened before as a student)

Naturally here I am a month later waiting for approval and feeling really irritated and antsy. I just want to get started. But I don't want to be in trouble because the JS (or outside company dealing with NEA) can't get act together.

M202A1 · 4 July 2016 at 7:16PM

Has anyone received the....

"Dear ****

Congratulations!

Your NEA Start Up Loan has been approved in principle."

Does this mean you have been 100% approved to receive the loan?
Did you get rejected after this?
How long after did you get the loan papers that you are to sign?

Cheers

Jinks · 4 September 2016 at 3:08PM

Hi guys,

I just wanted to say that I'm happy to answer any questions anyone has about NEA since I used the scheme with reasonable success (my self-employment is ongoing after finishing the NEA scheme, though I'm definitely living on a strict budget while I continue to work on it!). Unfortunately I don't know anything about the loan available, since I didn't take that out.

In general principle, I'd recommend the scheme, as I had some (intermittent!) advice from advisors and was able to use it to come off JSA and earn a living successfully. BUT it's really only suitable for certain kinds of businesses and you need to be very self-motivated to learn and figure out any issues for yourself. I'm currently studying a business course part time alongside working to help me grow my self-employment venture, as I didn't get as much support from business mentors as I was hoping.

The acceptance process can be pretty slow, but it's worth pursuing.

New Enterprise Allowance scheme - My story

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