Benefits confusion.

[Missguidedsmiles]

I'm not sure if this is allowed but we are seeking advice and we can't get it from anywhere.. not even UC.

We are currently on UC as life changes have happened..

My partner wants to become self employed and is engaging with Jobs 22 into reaching this goal; He has been advised to click the self employment button on the Universal Credit page but is hesitant because he is worried that our benefits will either stop or be reduced. (We have a child,bills,home to pay) and we have been told opposite things by UC & Jobs 22.
(He had been told by an employment coach at Jobs 22 that they had a client who clicked the button for self employment and then didn't receive their Universal credit for months..this has caused some anxiety over doing this)

He is currently not earning as he is in the basis of setting up the business so there would be nothing to declare..

Has anybody been through this situation and can advise

I do not need nor care for negative judgement.

I'm new to uc but I wouldn't tick it unless he's earning from being self employed. I'm not 100% how job22 works, though I've looked at the website- are they paying him anything?

Well presumably if he doesn't click the self-employed button then UC will consider your partner available for work and expect him to be applying for jobs. So surely you have no option but to click it?

There is no reason why you cannot be SE and receive UC.

Assuming your partner is in good health etc he will need to go through a process to show his Self Employment is his main work and that he's doing it with the intention of making a profit, see Gov website:

https://www.gov.uk/self-employment-and-universal-credit

He'll need to report his profit etc for each monthly Assessment Period.

The trap for the Self Employed is the minimum income floor which normally applies after one year:

https://www.turn2us.org.uk/jargon-buster/minimum-income-floor

If he declares himself self employed then has a 12 month set up phase in which he doesn't need to meet a minimum income floor for you to continue to receive UC.

The amount you receive will be based on the earnings he submits manually each month, but your claim won't be stopped. The amount may change though.

He needs to put a note in his work journal in his UC account to ask for advice - I would strong advise him to ask for a face to face with his UC coach. Not only will it clarify things, it will show he is taking it seriously.

He should bring along plans for his new venture, again to show he is taking it seriously.

I'd agree with this advice.