Employment Benefits For Self Employed

[iloveglee]

can anyone help with a question about benefits. i have trawled the website, but cannot find what i am looking for.

my friend has always been self employed and currently he has no work due to illness, which is deemed temporary, and therefore cannot claim any kind of sickness benefit. first because of the wrong kind of contributions, and second because the assessment is that he will get better.

this condition has been going on for quite some time, and doesnt actually seem to be getting better any time soon. he could work, from home, but finds it very difficult to get about.

for months now he has had no income, and i dont this can be right. surely there must be some benefit he can claim. having no money, and a rubbish diet is not helping his condition. he has a house, no mortgage fortunately, but is not old enough to take money from it. he has good friends who help him out a lot, but he hates this and feels like a burden but doesnt know where to turn.

his gp and the nurse that visits says he isnt entitled to anything.

[furrypusscat]

I would suggest he makes an appointment with Citizens Advice Bureau and also visit the local job centre to see what his rights are as a self employed person unless anyone on here knows any better/legal advice. If the job centre cannot help they should at least be able to give a telephone number to ring for advice re self employed benefits.

[EDDIE51]

Get him to fill this in with as much information as possible.
The doctor and nurse are wrong, you can claim benefit if you are self employed and you have a low income or can't work due to illness
http://www.entitledto.co.uk/benefits-calculator/entitlement-calculator.aspx

[Buenchico]

People who've been self-employed can claim Job Seeker's allowance but only if they're actively seeking (and available for) work. So your friend's illness would probably prevent him from making a successful claim.

However there may be other relevant benefits available. Try the benefits calculators here:
https://www.gov.uk/benefits-calculators

[furrypusscat]

If he cannot get any benefit, he should still send in sicknotes from his GP, this should then give him NI credits which I believe will count towards his State Pension.

[iloveglee]

thanks, i looked at the entitled to website myself and this may give him a start. the problem is, he is actually sick, but apparently not sick enough to get any benefit for that, but he actually would rather work, so far as he is able, which is not very! i think the nurse and gp are wrong too, i cannot believe in this day and age even with benefit cuts, someone could be allowed to try and survive on absolutely nothing but help from friends.

[EDDIE51]

I agree with getting in touch with the CAB they really are good for benefit entitlements. At the least they will give him an introduction letter to the nearest food bank so he has something to eat.
But I am certain there are benefits available for self employed , as long as he has been paying his NI contributions.

[EDDIE51]

Here you are Employment Support Allowance ESA , you can claim this if you are employed or self employed it makes no difference.
https://www.gov.uk/employment-support-allowance/eligibility
I really am astounded that the nurse and GP did not know about this!
Again get him to use the CAB to help him fill in the claim, they know exactly the best way to word the claim and claims submitted via the CAB get priority .

[EDDIE51]

As an example my wife tried 3 times to get ESA but was refused. When we got the CAB to fill in the claim for us with her details we got the full benefit in just 5 days and a 6 months backdated payment !!

[iloveglee]

thanks very much. i have had a look at all these links and i will relay them to him tomorrow. we had already mentioned CAB but they are a bit of challenge to get to see, as many of them have had their resources cut. but at least now i think he may be able to see a clear way forward.

[furrypusscat]

I hope he gets something sorted. Good luck.