A thread for direct financial impact of Coronavirus...

[wheresmymojo]

I thought all self-employed, freelancers, people made redundant and similar who are impacted by Coronavirus could gather here to share stories, tips on managing, etc.

I expect the thread to be quiet to begin with but get busier over the coming weeks.

Anyone else already impacted (like me) or seriously worried?

[wheresmymojo]

Bumping as it can't just be me!

[FramptonRose]

I was just saying this to DH, he runs a small company which does quite well and he is definitely the main breadwinner!
I am panicking about what we are going to do if we go into complete lockdown.
I work, but earn a fraction of what he earns.

The bank have said they have money put aside and plans to assist those with business accounts but I need to look into this fully.
I also believe he can claim stat sick pay at a whopping £73 per week.
Although I am aware that there may be plans put into place, ie allowing extra time to pay VAT, Tax, I am concerned about us going into this lockdown and very quickly running out of money!

[ChippityDoDa]

Yes we are affected already, I will be surprised if we still have a business in three months. Cash flow is the issue. This is usually a very healthy business too. One of the directors has already resigned so that we can start it up again as the others will have to declare bankruptcy.

[Waxonwaxoff0]

I'm not self employed but I am an employee for a small business so I am concerned about my job. So far though business has been unaffected - we actually had a higher number of orders last week than average for this time of year.

I'm not sure if it's because we sell household goods, so people are staying at home more and getting more use out of them! Or if it's down to the fact that our customers are generally fairly well off and so aren't feeling the pinch like the rest of us.

If we have to go into lockdown I don't know what will happen.

We will see what Monday brings.

[Mumtothelittlefella]

Do check to see if you’re eligible to claim the £3,000 small business grant that was made available in the Budget

smallbusiness.co.uk/how-do-i-get-the-government-3000-coronavirus-grant-2549866/

[ShootEmUpSarsaparilla]

DH is self employed. Small business contracted to schools. If the schools close and he can’t work then we’re fucked frankly.

I work for the NHS. If he can continue to work when schools are shut I’ll have to be childcare and at the end of the NHS leave year, I’ll be doing that unpaid. So we’ll be fucked.

There’s already been sleepless nights and there’s going to be plenty more.

[WeAllHaveWings]

dh is a tradesman if he doesn't work he doesn't earn.

As of Monday my company has told us to WFH until further notice. Seems wrong that dh will still go out to work. Leaving it to him to decide but I think soon, probably once the schools also shut, he will say he's stopping for a bit and we'll need to dip into our personal savings to keep afloat.

We are lucky we are in our 50s so mortgage paid off and bills can be relatively low (but would prefer to be in our 30s and physically fitter before we catch the virus - better skint than dead!!!!!)

ds uses a private small independent gym/PT and we are going to tell him this weekend ds wont be coming for the foreseeable future, it is >£100/month, but we will keep paying if we can as he is a young single man with a 5 yr old child to support and will be impacted heavily once people stop going to gyms.

[KeysDontBelongInTheFridge]

My partner’s self employed and has currently lost all his current contracts and so has no work. AAARRGGGHHHH!!!! Massive panic stations.

[Snorkelface]

Old job is made up of small, mainly one man band, type companies in very niche industry. I still help them out occasionally to keep my hand in and every single one of them has all work cancelled for the rest of the month and into April. They'll all manage to keep their heads above water for a bit so we're coming up with plans to use the down time for social media revamps, some on line training, anything cheap and useful that no one usually has the time to do. It's as much a sanity check as anything.

[NettleTea]

I manage my parents in laws farm. We run a glamping site and a holiday cottage. At the moment we are closed for renovations on the cottage but have future bookings, none of which, touch wood, have cancelled and are mainly weekends so we have a week to deep clean.
The glamping is having some extra bits put in / built to ensure that none of the guests of each group need to share anything at all. The pods are all a good distance from each other, and again we will change cleaning products (the kinder 'eco' stuff is out the window for the moment!) between guests and do self check ins so that any face to face stuff is removed.
We are still getting bookings but its hard to tell at the moment as often they come in quite late.
Im guessing that glamping is one of the safest options for going away as each unit has its own water supply and toilet and its outdoors.
Its worrying though.
I usually run courses for guests and Ive decided I wont be doing that this season, so thats cut off a fair stream of income for me. I also run forest school with a local secondary school, so again it depends what the school is doing as to whether that will go ahead.

[wheresmymojo]

I'm sadly already 'ahead of the curve'.

I'm a contractor, contract ended on 31 Jan. All contracts and permanent jobs have dried up because the businesses I work for (financial services in the City) are all focused on keeping the lights on for the next few months not on starting brand new projects (which is what I do).

We are now in our last 6 weeks of funds I reckon and I can't see myself getting more work any time soon.

Called the mortgage company two days ago to be told they don't do payment holidays or interest only.

DH is a personal trainer and due to very complicated circumstances I won't go into had to start from scratch lately - has £800 p/mtn income at the moment that we would usually be able to build up with more clients but a lockdown would see gyms close.


So yeah - six weeks left until we start missing payments and our outgoings are huge so picking up some temp work or whatever wouldn't help that much.

[wheresmymojo]

I'd suggest anyone with money worries does the following now:

• Review every single outgoing and whether it is essential or can be cancelled or postponed

• Does a comparison on your energy costs on an energy comparison site and switch if cheaper

• As your insurances come up for renewal put them through compare the market.com

• See if there are any non-essential spending you do that could be cut (for us - coffees, grabbing stuff to eat on the run, all social activities, bottled water, soft drinks replaced by cordial)

...I mean, I've never been bankrupt before so I guess that will be an experience

[bobbieflekman]

Thank you for starting this thread. I own a small business and employ about 20 staff. I'm very worried about keeping the business running if we go into lockdown. All my staff assume they will wfh on full pay, but if we can't keep getting the work out we won't be billing and I won't have the funds to pay everyone. It's extremely worrying

[buttermilkwaffles]

I am freelance / self-employed. Was robbed on a train while on holiday in Romania last October. They took everything (even my prescription glasses and my medication) but more importantly my biometric residence permit (BRP) and travel document. Was stuck in Romania for 7 weeks waiting for a temporary BRP so I could come back home and only got one after getting my MP involved (was supposed to take 15 working days, so 3 weeks not 7).

Applied for a replacement BRP in mid December and am still waiting for it (supposed to take maximum of 8 weeks, has now been 12). As this is my only ID and banks and savings companies have told me I need proof of ID to get replacement bank cards and also have had access to savings frozen until proof of ID is provided. One bank (Starling) has already closed my account with them as I could not provide ID by their deadline, even though I tried to explain the situation.

So now with hardly any work coming in and needing to rely on savings, I cannot access them. Have contacted MPs, written to FCA and banks etc but no replies or just fobbed off...

Can only hope the replacement BRP turns up in the next week or so, but Home Office probably short staffed, working from home so not very optimistic...

[AlecTrevelyan006]

be ruthless - cut everything you don't need

[MrsCharlesBrandon]

FSB have some great advice on what you can claim as a company, Acas too. The Govt website covers what has to be paid in terms of sick/full pay, and there should be 'business interruption' insurance to cover any shortfall because it's a declarable disease.

If your work closes down temporarily you can claim Universal Credit - I believe they're trying to get new applications cleared and paid within a week.

[Syrinx89]

Thank you for starting this! Self employed musician here. 4 concerts cancelled so far this month, equating to loss of £500 for starters. Also a peri teacher in schools and at home. Hoping my home students will stick around, but if the schools shut then I can't get paid (I invoice parents, the school doesn't pay me)! Hoping that most parents would accept Skype lessons. Scary times!

[Thetigeronthewobbelboard]

I am self employed. I am pregnant and have scaled back work anyway as I’m struggling but have had to scale back more as my parents who helped me one day a week are staying home and don’t want to see people as they are scared of catching CV. I’m concerned about how I’m going to get my work done, especially once my son’s preschool shuts. Usually I would work in the evenings but some pregnancy issues mean I just don’t have the energy. It’s a struggle.

My husband is also self employed and employs 20 people. He is concerned. He needs to be told to close down by the government to stop running in order for his insurance to pay out.

[Rhubarbpeony]

Is there anything those of us not in this situation can do? I’m salaried and can wfh so have a cushion. I’ve donated to food banks and I have bought some vouchers from a couple of local places to help them but is there anything more direct we could be doing to help?

The effect of this on people who lose money by self isolating is the thing I am most worried about at the moment.

[collywobble]

Single self employed mum supporting a daughter at university and two school aged children. Work already noticeably drying up . I struggle at the best of times to make ends meet but this is scary . My house is mortgaged . If I rented I could claim housing benefits but as I already claim tax credits there's nothing else I can do. I know the other option is to get a paid employed job but I'm not sure I'd cover the bills with minimum wage.

[Ariela]

@wheremymojo

An idea for your DH - can he do online fitness by subscription - create some videos?, and individual online personal training by videolink?
I would think there's certainly some scope to earn something extra by outdoor fitness classes too - I've seen groups in parks, that would be relatively 'safe' for people not wishing to go to the gym, as the people could space themselves about in the open, no surfaces or other people to touch.

[coronade]

Ex partner is a plumber and only had 2 calls this week for very minor jobs. Can’t see anyone wanting a new bathroom or boiler done at the moment. Older customers are trying to isolate and keep people out of the house. It’s very worrying. We recently split and I’ve been looking for an office job but can’t see people hiring either.

[sigmu87]

I work in Finance and it the markets fall much further it will become very difficult.

[Absentwomen]

Hi all,.

This is one of the most heartbreaking threads in the CV topic..

Have you looked in the money section at the earn £10 a day topic?

Rooting for you all. As the PP said, what could be done to help you all through should things begin to get bad?