Still not getting any help whatsoever from the government. I'm pissed off.

[AvocadosBeforeMortgages]

I run a highly seasonal business that's dependent on public events, weddings and the like. Everything I'd planned to do this summer with the business has been cancelled; I'm doing some home deliveries but whether or not this will sustain me remains to be seen - the summer season is so crucial to the business, and I'm now having to factor in more petrol and more time as doing deliveries is time consuming.

I've fallen through every crack of government support on offer.

• Self employed income support grant (furlough equivalent) - can't get it because I only went self employed last year, despite having paid PAYE every year before that

• Universal Credit - like many others, I can't get it because of having some savings and / or having a partner still earning. Even if I could get it, it wouldn't cover even the basic outgoings on my very modest lifestyle FFS (Shared flat. In Wales). Note that no other form of coronavirus support is restricted on the basis of savings / partner income.

• £10k grant - can't get it because my business doesn't have premises - I've been running the business from home while in the start up phase; I had been hoping to take on business premises in future.

• Business Loan Interruption Scheme - can't start taking out loans because I'd have no way of paying them back (and I strongly suspect I'd be turned down for it anyway, as the majority of applications have been rejected).

• Welsh Government Economic Resilience Fund - can't get it as I'm not employing anyone else and I'm not VAT registered.

I'm not really sure what the government expect people like me to live on - thin air? Presumably I'm also going to be taxed more to cover the cost of the coronavirus support that I've been denied. It feels like everyone around me is either getting some nice time off work, fully or 80% paid, is working and being paid as normal, or is getting a nice cheque from the government. I am SO done with this lockdown shit already; I just want to go to the pub and drown my sorrows with my friends. I'm possibly being unreasonable but I just feel so forgotten and abandoned by the government.

Oh okay I now see you don’t have a partner. You need to spend some of your savings - that’s literally what they are for. Personally I think it’s morally outrageous to have £15k in savings and claim benefits but you could do that couldn’t you?

My partner is not getting a penny either. Makes me incredibly angry knowing how hard he's worked and the fact that we will likely have higher taxes to pay back for all this money loaned out when he got nothing. It's an absolute disgrace.

Maybe, anyone can go out to work not just key workers. Except where you have been forced to shut like a pub, and except when working from home is possible

It's just one of those things OP. You need to use your savings.

My dh has been self employed for the last 20 years. It is the first time self employed people have been helped like this. It's the first time employed people have been helped on this scale. It's absolutely right that people who can't prove what they have earned don't qualify for help. Because otherwise there would be fraudulent claims.

You are in a much more fortunate position with your savings and still being able to work in some capacity than many others. Lots of people are worried about losing their home. Plenty are worried about feeding themselves and their kids.

Startup business (started last year)
No premises
Not VAT registered
No employees

Is your business even a year old ? Have you paid tax on your earnings for this financial year?
Sounds like there’s not much for them to make a claim calculation on.

I don't know why but I get the feeling OP's 'business' is making wedding favours/ table decorations and the like - selling them through FB pages...

It’s massively unfair, and I don’t think there’ll be any changes in response from the gov. Martin Lewis said pretty much that.

I agree with pp that the package suggested fails many.

Small businesses have applied for business interruption loans. 3 I know have been refused.

Boris tells you to stay home, but unfortunately the infrastructure isn't in place.

PAYE can have unlimited savings and still get 80% of they pay

But that's not UC. They wont get UC and have more the 16k. Its comparing 2 different things.

PAYE have proof of what they earned. How would the calculated that for the Op.

Why self employed who earn over 50k dint get anything, is beyond me though

Milly, did say wasn't sure if it was allowed.

Its tough isn't it. My nephew in similar position. We is a roofer and worked for company forc10 years before becoming self employed and starting upmon his own after Xmas. He only has 3 months on his books so can't get self-employed payment, his wife works so can't get UC. No children so can't see them getting any government help and after lock down ends is expecting to have to pay class 1 insurance as Sunak hinted this would be introduced for all self-employed. He is having to gradually use his savings for deposit used to pay their rent each month.

Why do none of you have an issue with salaries being unequal and unfair normally? Does it only bother you when you’re personally affected?

The unfairness between a director on £10m who gets £2k a month furlough money and a self employed person on £51k a year who gets neither furlough nor self employed help is pretty obvious but is worse because we know we will all have much higher taxes next year even if we got not a penny of the self employed nor employee help. However we all know life is unfair and yes I do not have a big issue with people earning more than I do or less. It is just tax is theft and as the state has decided it hate some of us who are self employed it is really saying - you were so silly not to avoid tax by incorporating having a PSC etc etc - go forth next year and do all you can within the law to minimise your tax as you get no thanks for paying lots of it.

@caringcarer - HMRC said for anyone under a year they can send what they have and they'll have a look to see if they can help. It could be worth trying. Obviously 3 months isn't much, but if it's consistent then it might show something.

I think salaries normally is a completely different issue. What I would say though is there are lots of self-employed people earning far below minimum wage - if you look on a freelance site you will see masses of tasks advertised at rates massively under minimum wage and nothing is done about it as self-employed are invisible. I moved from employed to self-employed due to ill health and really opened my eyes had no idea there was so much exploitation going on. But that is a seperate issue. People on minimum wage or zero hours righly get lots of publicity.

tax is theft seriously?

Are you really suggesting the Tories should have spent less on the NHS than they did?

If the Tories had been more concerned with the welfare of the nation instead of cutting tax then they could have properly funded the NHS, meaning we'd not be quite so screwed now.

No it’s not fair but pandemics don’t tend to be 🤷🏻‍♀️

I'm not really sure what the government expect people like me to live on - thin air? not thin air the 16k in your bank account.

You’ve got 16k in the bank so one would expect you to live on that. Tighten your belt to only buy the essentials. To be honest with the work you do, you aren’t realistic going to get any money from that for a while as large gatherings won’t be happening for the foreseeable. So you need to get applying for any job that pays a wage to help see you through this

It’s shit but that’s how it is

If your saving for a house how would you get a mortages they require proof of earning for a countious period. You need steady income. Im sorry but you need to use savings.

I think the govt are going to have to be VERY careful with tax rises after all this is over. Fair enough that taxes rise for people who've benefitted from the support schemes or who havn't suffered any drop in income (i.e. pensioners or those still on full pay), but if they try to raise taxes on people who havn't received any support, there's going to be real problems in justifying that.

I think a better option would have been something along the lines of student loans for all, where you can apply for support if you need it and then pay it back over a number of years. That way, support is given to those in greatest need, and only paid back by the people who benefitted from it.

I wonder if the people berating the OP and saying she should use her savings have stopped to think whether they should also use their equity instead of taking furlough payments? Having 16K as a deposit for a house is pretty minimal when you look at house prices these days.

If we are delaying mortgage payments that is in a sense dipping into equity @lizzzyyliveson ? Not many lenders will remortgage if you are furloughed or made redundant.

@Kazzyhoward - Sorry but I entirely disagree with the view that people who aren't helped shouldn't pay extra. I still work and pay tax but I fully expect my taxes to go up, they should so we can pay for all this extra support! If the support was supposed to be personal loans then it would be loans, it isn't, it's money for keeping people afloat because we all live in one country so we help each other via tax and benefits. I'm lucky that I can work, not unfortunate in having to pay tax!

I think it’s really shit. It has been advised by a few that they should just remove the UC savings limit. I don’t see how people are expected to take a halving in income just because they have a partner that earns too. If you have bills that’s just not sustainable for most couples. I’ve always thought it was unfair in that it penalised people saving for a house, yet those who own a home can claim when argh they are wealthier with assets. I work in the wedding industry too, I can’t see it back up and running for a while!

But don't expect to get any sympathy here op.

How many of the people saying “you have over £16k in savings so spend it” are sitting pretty in their own houses which they own? You’d soon change your tune if you’d saved up a house deposit and then had to spend it and start over, whilst those who bought a house a month or two before this started were able to claim benefits. Should those with more than £16k of assets (house/car primarily) be expected to sell them before they can claim benefits to make it fair?

Universal basic income would remove the unfairness.