Disabled lady wants to to take in peoples ironing to earn for family!!

[galazyace30]

Hi all my name is Claire. I am a mother of 2 beautiful but hard work girls lol. aged 7 and 11. I have been with my partner 13 years and he works so hard for his family.
However I want to contribute to our income doing busy peoples ironing when my pain levels aren't too bad. I actually enjoy ironing! I stick my box set on and do what needs to be done!!
I did say £10 a basket as I don't drive the person would need to drop off and collect. But I have been warned that there could be some confusion over basket sizes so yesterday I brought myself luggage scales and will price things by weight I think.
I am a total beginner so would appreciate ANY advice or feedback!
I do a friends ironing and she is more than happy with the results! I just want to feel useful instead of useless!!
Hope to hear from some new friends soon!!
Claire xx :)

wrong place to post this?! advice please x

The one thing I would say is it can't be when your pain levels are too bad - if you are asking someone to pay you to do their ironing then you need to do it, regardless of pain levels.

Pain levels NOT too bad, sorry

I tend to have a couple of hours in the day where my pain is manageable, or I can sit and iron, it distracts me well so helps with the pain too. I currently iron for a fantastic amazing lady who is also an A&E nurse so she understands completely, if there was any ironing I hadn't managed to do I have a close friend and partner who have promised to help so I can meet peoples time scales.
claire x

Are you starting up as a business? Will you be keeping books, paying tax, etc? Have you informed your house insurance and your mortgage company/landlord that you intend to run a business from home? Have you looked into how it will affect any benefits you currently receive? If you are fit to iron from home, then the Government will see you as being fit to work outside of the home, and any disability related benefits will be cut.

I'm not pointing all this out to put you off, merely to make sure you're aware that if you are doing this for 'cash in hand', and you are 'caught', all the above (and more) will be a problem. You have put your name in your OP, and although it's not an unusual name, it isn't beyond the realms of possibility that a neighbour sees that someone on their street who's off 'on the sick' is now having lots of visitors going to and fro with baskets of washing and that your name matches what you've put on here.

If I were you, I'd think really carefully about how (and if) you can make this work, tread very carefully and have HQ remove your name from your posts!

Jesus I didn't think doing a favour earning the odd £20 here and there would cause that much trouble! Please advise how I get my name removed?!?!

And as for the "off on the sick" that makes it sound like I have a choice in the matter! You ask ANYONE who suffers with this pain how hard it can be. I have lost count of the amount of jobs I've applied for but always get turned down.

No, that's not what she's saying. She's saying that, in the eyes of benefits, you can't have it every which way. You're able to work or you're not. And if you're in receipt I benefits because you are not able to work because of illness then you would be wise to look really really carefully into what happens to those benefits if you do, in fact, decide to work.

I meant to add - some of it isn't means tested so will not be affected, but some of it will be.

Yes, Pottering has it right. I'm not judging you at all, OP, but there are plenty out there who will.
I personally think the laws around casual work are ridiculous and force a lot of people into poverty, but if you follow through with your plans, you will be breaking these law on several counts. I wanted you to be aware of this, as your posts suggested you weren't aware. If you're well aware of the possible consequences and want to go ahead anyway,then that's up to you, but you did ask for advice and feedback, which I gave.

sorry guys I got the wrong end of the stick, I'm not sure I even have the one lady anymore so no need to worry about breaking the law!
xx

Look up "Permitted Work", OP.

You can work a limited number of hours, earning up to a set amount, whilst still getting ESA.

Under the Permitted Work rules you can:

• Work for less than 16 hours a week on average, with earnings up to £101.00 a week for 52 weeks
• Work for less than 16 hours a week, on average, with earnings up to £101.00 a week if you are in the Support Group of the main phase of Employment and Support Allowance
• Work and earn up to £20 a week, at any time, for as long as you are receiving Employment and Support Allowance
• Do Supported Permitted Work and earn up to £101.00 a week for as long as you are receiving Employment and Support Allowance, provided you continue to satisfy the Supported Permitted Work criteria

Linky!