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?

Thanks @StrawberryBlondeStar - will take a look

I'm a landlord with a large mortgage. Thankfully DH's work has confirmed that they will pay staff wages through this. But I can't see how our all our tenants will be able to pay rent through this. We aren't in the UK or Europe so our plan is to save as much as possible to hopefully cover our mortgage payments. If we don't keep afloat then it's going to be disastrous for our tenants.

I know ! The impact here is HUGE and the ‘missing my Holiday ‘ threads are starting to
Fucking annoy me witless

I Am (for now ) employed but can see the impact already with self employed friends and Colleagues

We have people who will realistically face months on end of no income as consulting , coaching , graphic design ,PR campaigns training etc will go into lockdown

Hundreds of thousands of people must be in the same boat - facing the loss of their livelihoods and as a result, their homes. Realistically, how are we all meant to get through this if we have little savings? I’ll start by giving HMRC a call to discuss a payment plan for my tax bill (thanks for the advice @StrawberryBlondeStar) but that will only go so far to help.

I know I’ll probably get flamed for saying this, but I can’t help feeling that the panic mentality is what is causing the biggest issue at the moment. The thought of losing my income and my home is giving me far more sleepless nights than the thought of catching the virus.

Another self-employed couple here. DH world full time from home in tech so hopefully he will be ok but I'm a tutor and anticipating pupils stopping lessons. Trying to make the move to online tuition but not sure of the practicalities. We have a large mortgage, no savings and school fees/child care to pay and things are tight.
I wonder if the govt could force mortgage companies or landlords into allowing payment holidays?

I'm a sole trader and supply food items to cafes and restaurants from a home based business making around 1k per month profit.
If these businesses shut there is no work for me. If they stay open I'm sure they'll be quieter so less work.
If I get sick or any of my family does I'll have to close up shop until everyone is well again.

I buy a lot of ingredients from supermarkets for my business which has proved really difficult in the last few weeks. I bulk buy items like flour and eggs which will be impossible if supermarkets start limiting purchases because of panic buying.

My husband has a good job in the city and a fair amount of security thank god, also has the option to work from home however we're in London and our outgoings are so much his wage alone cannot support us.
Two kids and a baby due in a few month (a whole other worry).
I have actually seen an increase in sales since January but if the orders stop coming in so does the money.

DH and I are both self employed freelancers in different fields. I have 3 main clients and one has already halted all work as her income has been decimated by companies isolating.

The biggest worry is that companies aren't prioritising sending work out as they are in crisis mode not business mode. As we both work from home though and are set up to work remotely I'm hoping we can keep ticking over even if we have to dip into savings a little

The thought of losing my income and my home is giving me far more sleepless nights than the thought of catching the virus.

Agree & Im probably a little bit at risk.

My partner and I own and work in a small manufacturing company and employ 3 others as well. The dilemma for us is what to do now? We make leisure items and the last week sales have tanked and I expect it to get far worse.
We have enough money in the business to pay overheads and wages for the next 3 months and then we will have to shut down what was a very successful small business, or we make everyone redundant in the next couple of weeks and keep enough money in the business to pay the overheads for several months with the thought that we can maybe survive this. Either way is horrible for our employees (some of whom are family members which makes it even harder.)
There's no way of working from home as we are working with industrial machinery.

I don't know if BA are over-egging it, but their statements abiutt how much the aviation sector might need to prop it up are concerning.

And if that falls over, so much else does.

Businesses which depend on tourism need a decent Easter. And it looks like that won't be happening. Lots of visitors from abroad simply won't be coming, and there is increasing anecdotal evidence of rise of cancellations from within UK too

Can I please urge people to go to

www.turn2us.org.uk/

and do a calculation of what their entitlements will be- putting in their circumstances as it will be with worst case scenario. NOT as they are now.

That means not including any lump sum savings over about 3k - as presumably you would use savings to make payments until this point and not be in need of benefits. Therefore not actually on the breadline facing bankruptcy.

If you are normally employed but forced to self isolate - you are now regarded as ' ill' and need to choose employed , claiming SSP from the drop down.
If you are self employed and simply not earning anything , then choose 'none' from the drop down.

Housing costs ; UC is far more generous for rent than mortgage. Rent will be calculated based on your needs .. so if you are 2 adults 2 kids under 10 you are 'entitled' to the rate for a 3 bed house. Based on the 'broad market rent ' for your area . (This is of course highly manipulated by gov because the 'average' is meant to be worked out by taking an average of local rents... but strangely the amount quoted is always lower than the cheapest rent in the area - but heyho it is what it is)

This will give you the rates for your area.

lha-direct.voa.gov.uk/

So if you are entitled to a 2 bed, but have a 3 bed - the allowance will still be worked out on that 2 bed allowance.

Mortgage interest is payable but there is a 9 month wait time .. (can't see a mortgage co waiting this long personally) so hopefully this will be one of the practical things the gov can do , cutting it to immediate help.
There is also help for leaseholders. Under same lead time.

Finally, much has been written about UC and the long wait to receive money. This does not need to be the case. Once you have made a claim online you will need to verify your identity. So as long as you have a passport of driving license, this can be done entirely on line. Then an advance of 100% of your entitlement can be claimed and paid at the same time.

It's a long way from ideal. There are lots of issues like how do you verify your identity if you don't have a passport, dl and need to 'do it in person at a Jobcentre' .. during a lockdown or self isolation..
It's utterly useless for seriously ill/disabled/unemployed people.. but it may help some of you and you will be surprised how much some of you are entitled to.
I found out by accident whilst doing an calculation for a friend. I earn £37500 . Pay £975 rent. Live with one child in FTE and one over 18 in work. .. and still receive £220 a month. This is undoubtedly down to the amount of rent and living in a high rent area.. but please check, you never know for sure until you do.

I've just looked over all finances again. I have savings but that is my ringfenced savings for tax payments. Unless HMRC are about to relax their rules to help I can stave off serious problems for about 4 months with what I have in the bank but then I just defer the problem to when my tax bill becomes due and I won't have money for that.

It's unfortunate that this comes off the back of a quiet period for DH work after losing a large contract so our buffer we keep for quiet times was already depleted.

A mortgage and loan holiday would help us more than anything else right now but that also means worries about how banks will cope? How long can they keep going without their payments, I genuinely don't know?

I work in a UK airport.... if the airport closes like it did with the ash cloud years ago... we dont get paid!

Surely if we can not pay our mortgages, the banks are not all going to come in and take our homes!
Surely the banks will have to allow payment holidays to be able to deal with this!

Several financial institutions have already come out with a statement specific to CV19 and financial hardship.

Can I encourage anyone foreseeing financial difficulties paying priority bills like mortgage or rent to immediately contact their lender or landlord and gain an understanding about their lender's approach to payment difficulties.

They will have a process, so find out what it is ASAP. Manage the debt proactively, don't leave it til later because it will be more stressful.

If the government shuts schools down, they shut my husband's business down. So, yes, worried.

Patchworkpatty I just did that and we get a whopping 12 quid

Seems if you're self employed with no earnings they apply the minimum income floor so you get no UC. I put in that I couldn't work due to ill health bit that's tough shit apparently.

DH is investigating/following options re tax and grants as we speak. Thanks all for the advice and links.

In the meantime, I’ll be speaking to our landlord next week to give them the heads up. We’re already down 2 days pay next week because my youngest needs to be isolated until Friday (new persistent cough) and one of us will need to take time to look after her.

So scary to be honest. Saw a report that says a lot of people in this country have less than £100 in savings/no savings at all. This outbreak could last months at least. Hopefully, the UK can stop bills such as mortgages, council tax, etc temporarily until it improves and people can work. However I doubt that

Hopefully, the UK can stop bills such as mortgages, council tax, etc temporarily

Has there been any word on this yet? I saw something a while ago about a couple of banks offering mortgage holidays (think it was RBS and one other?) but I’ve heard little since.

@MaxNormal I believe in the budget they said they were scrapping the minimum income thing for the self employed at this point

They need to stop rents too. And utility bills.

@NettleTea thank you, I really hope so.

DH gets a high proportion of his 'salary' as shares. We rely on selling a number each year for our income. Fucked.

DH is a chimney sweep. Luckily this us his quiet period but he had more cancellations than bookings this week.

We are worried sick. We rent and landlord won't give us a holiday and will start eviction process after 2 months. We did have savings but my chronic condition got worse and I had to leave my job and now can't find another. All my interviews were cancelled. I am immune suppressed so probably not a good idea to be in a public facing role anyway.

DH's work is very quiet and they are talking about possibly redundancies. He only earns minimum wage and our rent is half his earnings for a tiny 1 bed. If he needs to claim SSP we cannot pay our bills.

Not sure what will happen with immuno suppressed people and whether they will be asked to isolate with elderly. If my DH then has to isolate too we will be screwed and probably homeless very shortly. We don't have anyone who could take us in