Annie
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AnnieKeymasterHi 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 🙂
AnnieKeymasterHi Amy,
If you were on payroll by 19th March 2020, you can contact your employer to ask them to furlough you!
We’ve got lots of info here: https://www.moneymagpie.com/manage-your-money/furlough-job-retention-scheme-faqs-answered
Which I hope helps, but feel free to ask more questions!
AnnieKeymasterWhen 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!
AnnieKeymasterIt’s now happened! You can get up to a three-month payment holiday for your car finance. You’ll need to speak to your provider though – don’t just stop making payments, as that’ll affect your credit score.
If you think you only need a month or two months’ break, go for that – because extending your finance can cost you more in the long term, so the shorter a holiday you can take, the better.
AnnieKeymasterHi 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!
AnnieKeymasterHi Hannah,
Your contributions are covered on the scheme, so you won’t miss those payments. Employers also have their mandatory amount covered, too – but if you or they pay more than the minimum required, it’s up to you/them to pay them.
Employers who pay above the minimum will have to make these payments, but the pensions regulator has agreed flexibility on when these payments are made (to give struggling businesses a breather). They’ll have to pay in the full amount owed, but you might see a drop for a couple of months until they make the full payment due.
AnnieKeymasterGreat 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!
AnnieKeymasterHi Aileen,
Jasmine’s right – and this ruling puts a lot of people on a lower furlough pay than they expected. Unless your contract guarantees a certain bonus, commission, or overtime each month, your employer can only use the base salary rate 🙁
If this leaves you a tad short for the next few months, check out our Make Money section – lots of ideas to make some extra cash on the side 🙂
AnnieKeymasterHi 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!
AnnieKeymasterHi Carol,
You’re in luck! Virgin Experience have confirmed free voucher extensions for all gift vouchers. You just need to hop online here to extend your voucher: https://www.virginexperiencedays.co.uk/myvoucher
You can extend up to six months 🙂
I hope you manage to get to your luxury day soon – it sounds wonderful!
AnnieKeymasterI 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 🙂
AnnieKeymasterHi Ellie,
It’s going to be a scary time for loads of people in the upcoming months – but you’re right, younger people are probably going to be affected more, as they’re more likely to have lost casual work, summer jobs, and not be able to make rent (especially students, too, who have no work, no studies, and can’t access benefits).
Saving is a massive part of protecting your future, but it’s so hard to do when you’re already on a reduced income. Marc’s already pointed you to the making money section, which has loads of tips! My biggest suggestion is to start now, rather than wait any longer. Things like online surveys only pay small amounts each time, but it quickly adds up – and as you’re furloughed, you’ve got more time than usual to spend on ways to make money online like this!
Keep an eye out for our upcoming savings series – but if anyone else has good ideas for how they plan to protect their finances in the coming months, tell us here!
AnnieKeymasterAt least you can cancel your halls – that’s a start!
If you’re not getting any online tuition at all, that’ll affect your long-term learning on the course, too. Exams might get pushed back next year, all sorts. I think you’re in a strong position to fight a partial refund of fees if you’re not receiving any tuition. We’ll look into this further and get back to you soon!
AnnieKeymasterI think alcohol is seen as a kind of essential in a way – if enjoying a cold beer in your sunny garden helps your mental wellbeing, it’s an important part of your lockdown life! I think we’d see riots if they banned alcohol altogether though – Brits are somewhat renowned for our enjoyment of the stuff…!
AnnieKeymasterI think this is the frustration a lot of us are facing! Without a definite ‘end date’ of the lockdown, we can’t make plans very far into the future.
The best thing to do is to stay in touch with whoever has your money – the closer you get to the date of the thing you’ve booked, the pushier you can get about arranging a refund or postponement.
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