[lcwalker]

I know of someone who has been unemployed a fair while and i saw him in the local paper the other week starting up a business on a goverment scheme which gives him a startup grant of £1500 and allows he to stay on jobseekers untill he gets up and running.He use to work with my brother so i dont only know of him but there are schemes out there to help but you probably have to enquire about them.
When i was last unemployed 10+ years ago i found the jobcentre staff useless for help, but i think you have to really push for ther help, i know of another bloke unemployed for a long time but said he didn't have anything to wear for interview they gave him burtons vouchers to get a suit, so there help in the system but it's not alway offered you have to push for it.

[christopher b]

have sent you an email....

[K.J.M]

replyed

[Paul Coleman]

Alrite guys as the title says im on the dole but due to start up my self ive got everything ready i.e trad tools ladder flyers etc etc. the thing is i cant gaurentee my monthly income yet and i dont want to jump in head first then find my self not being able to cover my bills every month let alone feed my family does any 1 no if i can claim any benefits until i get a decent regular income ive been stewing over this for the last wk im choking to get out there and earn a honest LEGAL income if any of you have been in the same situation recently PLEASE let me know i wanna get out there but wanna do it right

I know the dilemma well from when I started up 20 years ago.
I'm sure many rules have changed in that time but I did swing it - legally.  However, the problem is not the dole money (non means tested) as you can generally claim that so long as your income stays below a certain amount and making sure you earn all that in a single day.  The problem tends to lie with housing benefit and income support.  As I recall it the state itself was the biggest obstruction.  This was because each benefit had its start of the week on different days of the week.  As benefits tend to be assessed on a weekly basis, this makes it very difficult to honestly declare your income and retain enough to scrape by on (bearing in mind that you can deduct expenses too).
I wouldn't normally say this but I feel that if someone genuinely wants to free themself from benefits, they are better off being economical with the truth for a few weeks/months until they are earning enough to get by.  This is because if there is any type of enterprise allowance on offer (to ease the transition), you usually only get it if you have been out of work for quite a while.
While I normally wouldn't have the time of day for a long term cheat, I don't have any real issue about someone just taking a bit for a few weeks while they're sorting things out.

I no what you mean paul about economical truth but where im living theres that many nosey jealous f***ers i would probably be grassed up within the wk but i might just go for it and get out canvessing monday

I hope it works out OK for you.  The unemployment benefit part (or whatever they re-named it too) isn't the issue.  You can earn up to £x per weekBelow that and all that should be docked is the proportion of the week that you work.  It was based on a 6 day week in 1991.  So I made sure that I did all my work (up to the limit) in one day.  I was only deducted one sixth of the benefit.  Of course this does depend on having the right kind of NI contributions.  The benefit lasted one year in 1991.  I think it's 6 months now.  As I say, I got lucky with the driving work.  The problems I had were never with UB.  It was with housing benefit and income support (IS was minimal for me though due to single status).

[richardlingard]

if you canvass door knock and be smart all the time you have you should easily pick up £50 a days work, canvass all week and clean it the next all the time dropping out leaflets, fill up a weeks work then aim for the second and the third, you will find from referals and leaflet drops the forth will take care of itself pretty much, you have three months to do this before registering as self employed, then you can go as a sole trader, just work out how much tax you need to keep back because they will ask you for it. you will be making enough easily mate more than the dole after a couple of days canvassing, thats how i set up

[richard jagger]

I WAS GOING TO ADD BUT ALL HAVE COVERED ALL BASES KEEPING A RECORD OF WHAT IS TOLD YOU IS IMPORTANT AS YOU WILL  SEE DIFFERENT PEOPLE EACH WEEK AND THEY DO NOT SING FROM THE SAME SHEET.i WENT THROUGH ALL AND GOT NOTHING AS I DID NOT KEEP RECORDS.

[gr cleaning solutions]

I was on job seekers for a year but in this time i looked into everything that i could get from them and others. I sat down and picked a date i wanted to sign off , i went to in biz , morrison trust , working link for funding i got all my pole , brush backpack scrims tbars etc paid for as well as some training course for the carpets.

Then three months before the date i chose to sign off i was out with leaflets , business cards spreading the word via facebook and what ever work i got i cleaned then on the day i was signing off i got the self employment credit a brand new set off ladders , stand off from the job centre so i did have some work to go to and then for 16 wks i was out as much as possible , but signing off is a great feeling.

[Ryan @ Transparent, Carlisle]

i had same problem.

What i did was declared my self employed income to the dole, and they took away that amount from my giro

[K.J.M]

cheers guys went to the c.a.b today but it was basically a waste of time the bloke didnt have a clue he couldnt even work the comp and he tried arguing with me that the 50 quid self employed benefit wasnt finished on the 31st which i no for sure it is so ive got an appointment tomorrow with the j.c  i will let you all know how i get on

[richardlingard]

haha i remember those harsh conversations with people sat behind a desk earning just over minimum wage looking down their nose at you..... mate in 6 months time you will earn in a day what those office monkeys that can't even use thier own equipment earn in a week, they will still look down at you though because your just a scummy window cleaner lol

[K.J.M]

same story today at the job centre they cant help me because im under an employment agency (got an app with them thursday) so the 50 quid for 16 wks is out the window this is gettin on my tits if it wasnt the fact ive got 2 young kids i would just sign off and hope for the best

[Kate2]

Hi West, under an employment agency in what respect?  Just being registered?

[K.J.M]

because theres so many unemployed in this area the job centre send people to an employment agency where you have to see an adviser to explain what youve been doin to look for work and do certain course like c.v prep interview skills so on so on dont no of any1 that theyve actually got a job tho

[Kate2]

Does that make you not entitled to that help? Money wise?

[K.J.M]

not from the j.c and they couldnt tell me if the wise group offer any help 1 gd thing come out of it tho the bloke i see said that once im running to go in and give him some of my flyers and he will plaster them all over the jc staff rooms cause theyve over 100 people working in there

[Kate2]

West you must be entitled to this help.  Weve got strange circumstances this end, because my husband came back from Malaysia and he was able to sign on, based on contributions, no more though. Hes only entitled to sign for NI, but hes actually paid his 25 years of NI so there isnt much point.  He was told exactly the same £50 a week if you start a business.  Im sorry that you are going through all this hassle, you must have a fair case to get this.

Regards

[christopher b]

because theres so many unemployed in this area the job centre send people to an employment agency where you have to see an adviser to explain what youve been doin to look for work and do certain course like c.v prep interview skills so on so on dont no of any1 that theyve actually got a job tho

Ah been there, 13 week course with A4E what a nightmare. it was then I decided the only person who can help me is myself!

[awcs]

I stacked shelves while i built up my round. took me about a year but but there with hard work and determination

[K.J.M]

I stacked shelves while i built up my round. took me about a year but but there with hard work and determination

thats the thing tho theres no work all the jobs that are advertised about 6/700 people apply for them any way on a good note was speaking to some one tonite who said theres another employment provider called the ceis that helped an old mate of mine with the same sort of stuff so im assuming that this lot im gonna see thursday should help out   

[Johnny B]

West Coast,

I have just re-read your third post.

As you are married with children, you should be entitled to working families tax credit, and possibly child tax credit.

Look up uk-tax-credits.com for more details.

Best wishes,
John