Annie

Hi Maureen,

If they move in before any job losses happen, they MAY be entitled to a payment holiday. However, at the moment these holidays are only available three months from the date of announcement (so, mid-June for mortgage holidays). This could be extended – especially if lockdown is extended – but we just don’t know. Anyone can ask for a mortgage holiday at any time – but if it’s outside of these temporary allowances, it could harm their credit score.

Income protection insurance on their mortgage package could help them, too. However, as your daughter has been furloughed, if her pay is only at 80%, the mortgage company may want to reassess lending affordability. This could mean the mortgage is rejected and only a lower amount offered. However, property prices may also reduce due to the stagnation in the market, so a reduced mortgage offer doesn’t necessarily mean they won’t get the house they want if the vendor is willing to renegotiate.

It should be noted, too, that lockdown doesn’t HAVE to stop them moving. Advice is to not move if you can avoid it – but essential moves are still allowed. Finding a removals company or self-hire van business that is still open could be tricky, though. If they want to set a date with their vendor, they can move even if lockdown is still in place. It’s not advisable, but it’s also not against the law.

I hope this helps!

Michael’s right – especially right now, banks are being urged by the FCA to demonstrate increased forbearance. They’re getting thousands of calls every day right now, and most customers are finding that it’s easy to ask for payment holidays – and that they’re not feeling ‘judged’ for doing so.

Interestingly, I wonder if the stigma of debt will change over the coming months?

Hi Kiera,

You can definitely go self-employed now! If you’re already on Universal Credit, speak to your job coach about it. They’ll help you run through your plans – you could even apply for the New Enterprise Allowance, which gives you access to business mentors to help you create a viable business plan before you launch. You’ll get ongoing financial support from UC payments (and in the first year, don’t have to earn the Minimum Income Floor to get access to benefit payments. When you’re self-employed, you report your income and expenses every month – anything above your UC earnings limit will remove 63p for every extra £1 you earn from that month’s payment.

But as income goes up and down when you’re self-employed, you can report each month – so low income months you’ll get more UC, and higher income ones you won’t get as much (if anything).

We’ve got some freelance and self-employed guides in our Small Business Ideas articles already – and keep an eye out for some more new guides to help you go freelance, too! Good luck 🙂

When you start earning, remember that you could be eligible for a Help to Save account too – that’s up to £1200 FREE in bonuses from the Govt over 4 years. There’s a whole article about it here: https://www.moneymagpie.com/save-money/help-to-save-free-money

Good luck!

Hi Heather – yes, Amazon are actually generally pretty good at getting stuff like this sorted! Sometimes, it can take a few days (or, at the moment, a week or more) for accounts to settle when there’s been a missed item or delayed order.

If it’s still showing as incorrect after that time, you can raise the issue. If you ordered via a Seller, you’ll need to raise the issue with the seller first before Amazon will be able to help you. If you go to My Orders > View Orders, you’ll see the options next to the order. If it says ‘Contact Seller’, you’ll need to click that to write an email to the seller.

The chat bot is supremely helpful – 99% of the time I’ve had to use it, I’ve gone through to a Real Human Being and had email conversations back-and-forth with them to get stuff sorted out. Good luck!

Great idea here!

Do you also think that, as everyone gets used to working from home at the moment, employers will be more open to remote or flexible working after it’s all over? Reducing the number of commuters would certainly help cut pollution!

Hi Mark,

NMW doesn’t apply to furloughed workers, unless they are still undertaking training while furloughed (but they can’t do anything that provides a direct service to your business). So, 80% of their wage may take them below NMW but this is legal.

You’ll need to add separate pay periods together when you apply for the scheme. So, NMW workers furloughed in March will have one pay period on the old rate, and subsequent pay periods from April on the new rate.

Hope that helps!

I think that while the industry is likely to take a hit, it’s going to be short-term. Every single person I’ve spoken to in the past week (and it’s quite a lot – dog walkers are chatty people even when socially distancing!) has said the number one thing they miss is the simple pleasure of nipping out for a coffee or meeting friends over dinner.

Should lockdown end before summer really kicks in, I think the hospitality industry is likely to see a quick boom – especially if they focus on outdoor spaces (lazy Sundays in a pub garden, anyone?). Cheap eats and cafes will see the fastest bounce – we’re all going to feel the economic pinch so higher-end places might take longer to recover.

Sam’s right though – while things are bleak right now, they WILL pick up 🙂