I was approached last May by an Agency who were looking to set up a training course for the unemployed (I am a qualified trainer), I was interviewed and offered work on the spot. The only proviso was that they would only pay me on a day rate and that I would have to be self employed. I was assured that they were moving very quickly so I started my own business. They then asked me for copies of my qualifications to enable them to sell the course to potential funders. I was originally told that the start would be sometime in August. August came and went I was then assured that the start would be the second week in September. I found out late on Sunday evening when I thought I was starting on Monday that the start date had again been pushed back. During this time I received a text messages telling me that they had secured 95K worth of funding reassuring me that the course would be guaranteed until June or July of this year. Eventually after a false start we did get a start date of the middle of January. I completed teaching a two week course. Only to be told on the last day that there had been a problem with funding and that the courses were coming to an end. I feel that I have been misrepresented by this company. I have evidence to say that they sent me text from company mobile phone to say that they had secured funding. My qualifications were used for them to get funding. Overall I feel that I possibly have a strong claim against this company for lying to me. Does everyone think that I wouldn't succeed in making a claim against them?

Good Morning. I am having difficulties determining as to whether i need to be self employed or a business? My situation: A few months ago, i started working for a local company, i believe on a sub-contract basis as a service engineer. At the end of each month i invoice them for the gross amount of labour, and they pay the invoice value. In addition, to this, i invoice them for mileage, for using my car, at 40p per mile and invoice that too, which they pay in full. I also do other things as well; i repair coffee machines at home and sell them online. (materials are involved within the invoice total) I also build Camping Pods in my spare time, and sell them on line (materials are involved within the invoice total) I have not at this time registered with HMRC, it has only been two months, i needed to see how it went but now find myself very confused with what i need to be “signed up as” I have been putting money aside to cover my tax liabilities whatever they may be. I have looked through the HMRC self employment section and to be honest, i am finding no definitive answer as to what to do. I would appreciate any help or comments anyone may have Thanks in advance

Old MBNA credit card i defaulted on and debt has been sold to Link. Sent SAR to MBNA and got back all info including lists of transactions including PPI. Im sure there can be no dispute in my case for miss-selling as the CCA they sent to me just before cout case clearly states in bold ink SELF-EMPLOYED. Im just not sure which spread sheet to use and believe the adding of the PPI insurance was a contributing factor to the default of the debt. Towards the end the interest and insurance added meant the debt was just increasing. Could someone advise as to which spread sheet i should use. Thanks

hello, My partner and I are self employed and I suffer from Raynaud's disease and kidney infections I need heat for this, oil heating as we have no open fire. My partner and I have next to zero money coming in at present through the business and even though we get £120 per week in tax credits it is really hard to obtain oil with bills etc. I have heard that the DHSS provide Crisis Loans to people on benefits, do you think we would be eligible? We also need a bed and there is no way that we can get credit. We have no kids and the business has made no profit from the last year, I know going on benefits would seem the better option as you can obtain budgeting loans etc but we want to make a success of our business and it is a struggle. I have been turned down for DLA, can anyone advise, we cant even afford to put an electric shower into the house as I am not on ESA/DLA. Please help. I am in Northern Ireland, it may be different here! thanks

Hi all. First time poster, frequent surfer I currently run my own business which is just not happening (I do web/graphics design mainly through PPH and the competition with overseas is crazy). I understand there is some sort of help for people in the UK on low incomes? What, if anything, can I get help with? I live on my own in a privately mortgaged house. Mortgage? Council Tax? Tv License? General Cash? Can I get on Job Seekers as I have limited work - Or would I have to 'stop' all work (not keen on doing this unless I need to to get the other benefits as I dont want to be forced to get a job cleaning toilets)? More after help with the bills so I can plod along with my work as it is and hope it improves. R.

Currently unemployed after losing my job in september 2012....receive JSA and housing benefit, if I was to go self employed would I still get help to begin with ?

I'm currently in receipt of ESA (WRAG) after having to leave my job a few months back due to medical reasons. I'm doing a OU degree and volunteering but would really like to start earning some money again. As my health is pretty up and down I figure something I'm able to do at home would be ideal. I'm very artistic and a friend has offered to give me her kiln and pottery supplies...I did Ceramics in college years ago so I know what I'm doing. The whole "self employed" thing really scares me though...I would have no idea what I'm doing and would be scared about not earning enough to pay the bills. I'm aware that if I work over a certain number of hours per week I can claim WTC, does this apply to CT and HB too? This would obviously affect my ESA? How is WTC worked out if I have no idea how much money I would be earning...it would all depend on sales wouldn't it? So some weeks I might earn nothing at all, whilst others could be hundreds. It really would be luck of the draw. I am aware of a couple of shops that would be interested in stocking some of my stuff, I know the owners...but this would be me getting paid when they sell the item, plus they'd take commission. The idea is very appealing...getting away from DWP would be great for a start and working at my own pace would really help health wise. I'm just worried about how they'd work out how much rent/CT and WTC I'd have to pay/receive if I don't know how much I'd earn. Do you have to "earn" a certain amount per week to be eligible or is it based on hours? How does the self employed tax stuff work? I'm aware I can earn up to 10,000 per year without having to pay tax, but I still have to file them, right? Receipts for everything...If I'm selling online, what info would the tax people need? Invoice printouts? How does the "money earnt" thing work...Say for example I sell £5000 worth of stuff in 12 months...but I spend £1000 on new materials and £500 went on shipping/packaging...that would mean I only earnt £3500 or do they count what your expenses/out goings are as income? Stuff like firing the kiln would be around £4 a go, that would be expenses? Like I said...no idea how it works. Any thoughts or advice would be appreciated. Thank you.

Hi I'm on JSA and going to sign off on Monday and register as self employed, claiming in work credit for the first year as self employed checked I can do this. https://www.gov.uk/in-work-credit/overview I want to register my company name to protect it from being used by anyone else. Would I have to register as a limited company or would it still be ok to just register as self employed ? It's expensive going down the limited company route and I will do that once the company is making a good profit. Any answers gratefully received.

I made a postal application for a Barclaycard Visa credit card back in May 1995 when I was self-employed. It was one of those advertising flyers found in magazines. As I was self-employed I ticked the PPI box as I thought that it would offer me both the best chance of getting the card and cover me if I was unable to work for some reason. The card is still active but I only pay off what is left on the account. It was only when I saw a programme on TV about PPI that mentioned that a self-employed person with PPI might not have been able to make a claim for unemployment, that I decided to contact BC for a full refund and stop my PPI payments. BC failed to stop my PPI payments for some months, only stopping them eventually when they mixed my account up with somebody else's and stopped them automatically. Meanwhile I was in the long wait for a response but finally they decided to refuse my claim with their only reason being that I ticked the PPI box on the form. I had also asked them to look at a Barclayloan I also had taken out with them and had paid off which also had PPI on it for the same reasons. They never responded to this and I included this in my FOS referral along with the delay in cancelling my PPI payments on my active account. I complained to FOS in Oct 2011 and had not heard anything from them until today when out of the blue, they have upheld my complaint. The reasons given may help other self-employed folk out there who are dealing with Barclaycard. "From the information I have gathered, I do not think Barclays advised xxxx to buy the PPI policy. However, Barclays still had a duty to give xxxx th information she needed to decide whether to take out the policy - and to present it in a way that was clear, fair and not misleading. It was also the duty of Barclays to draw the main features of the policy to xxxx's attention. You had a responsibility to make it clear to the consumer that the PPI policy was optional. Looking over the information you gave to xxxx and her recollections from the time of the sale, I cannot see how you did this. I have found: the copy of the application form supplied is of poor quality and not sufficient to enable me to identify that xxxx made an active selection, within the sales process, to confirm that she wanted to take the policy out; the policy was taken out around the time when xxxx took out the credit card but there is not enough evidence to suggest that you made it clear enough to xxxx that the policy and credit card were separate products; so I am not satisfied, based on the evidence, you made it clear enough to xxxx that the policy was optional. Looking at the term of the policy, I see the circumstances in which a person who was self-employed could make an unemployment claim were quite limited. As xxxx was self-employed when she took it out, this was important information she needed to make an informed choice about whether to buy. However, from the evidence I have, I do not think this was made clear enough to xxxx when she brought the policy and I do not think she would have taken it out if you had made that information clearer. For these reasons, I think xxxx's complaint about the sale of her PPI policy should be upheld". FOS are now awaiting a response from BC but having seen the delays mentioned by others I won't be holding my breath for a speedy response. Reply to be made by 23 May...laugh! Unfortunately there is no mention of the Barclayloan which I paid over £2000 PPI on so I will just have to wait and see if Barclaycard mention it in their offer or go back to FOS and see what I should do. I really don't want to go through all the hassle of having to put in another claim just to get the loan. Any ideas?

Hi All, Well due to sign on in another hour and at the end of my tether with the advisor. So now I need to get my business going live. But what do I tell the Tax Credits? I want to submit 30 hours working but with zero hours how do I approach them with that information. Someone mentioned just put down 16 but I will be doing a lot more that 16 hours per week it'll be full time and more. Any information gladly appreciated!

Hi all, At present I'm out of work, and claiming JSA. I've been out of work for just over a year, during which time I went back to college and studied to become a Personal Trainer. Having gained my REPS 3 qualification, I have been putting the feelers out for a job in a gym, and struck lucky recently.... ...I've been offered a job in a local gym (plenty of facilities).....the start date will be 2 weeks Today The only thing that's 'niggling' me is that it's self-employed. The reason it's niggling me is because I've never been self-employed before, and so was looking for advice. The thing is, as the job will be paid on the consultations and sessions that you can get from clients, there will be no initial base for any income. The first 3 months at the gym will be rent free, allowing me to concentrate on building my client base, without any overheads (in the business). So, as I'm gonna be earning nothing at the beginning, I was wondering if any of you could help me/advise me as to whether I'd be entitled to any particular benefits. Thanks in advance, Dave

I need some advice here. I am self employed and pay my PAYE in instalments from April when I self assess to just before January 31st when the payment is actually due. Worked well for some time until tax year 2011-2012 when I switched to direct debit monthly payment, saw it on my HMRC account and thought that would be a good idea as opposed to bac's payments. Boy was I wrong, not only were they not allocating the payments to my account (they have admitted to having to manually transferring all direct debit payments from suspense) but they have also lost two payments. I have lost count now of how many times I have called and asked why when they can see the payments they have not allocated them. It really is getting out of hand now, it's costing me a fortune in calls, I have written to them twice. These payments were made 6 months ago. Every call results in "we can see the payments and will put in another request to have them allocated". They really are infuriating to deal with.

i have just received a letter from HMRC ASKING FOR £959.00 for National Insurance contributions THEY HAVE ME DOWN AS WORKING SELF EMPLOYED The dates are 7/10/2012 to 06/04/2013 10/04/2011 TO 6/10 2012 09/04/2006 TO 9/04/2011 I have been employed for the last 20 years PAYE i was medically retired last September and i am on ESA benefit just phoned them up and it is like banging your head against a brick wall. My main worry is that i am claiming a benefit, the benefit agency will see this as fraud as HMRC/DWP/LOCAL AUTHORITY ARE NOW LINKED URGENT suggestions please i am not, or ever been self employed

My husband is self employed. Still in his first year - the return is due in January. We have poured all of savings into the business and this has covered his wages etc so I am not anticipating paying much, if any tax. Because the savings have run out & he isn't making enough yet he has taken a new job. My question is, how can I change his tax code to make this new job the main job so he doesn't have to pay super-tax! Thanks for any help

Hello everyone. You were fantastic last time I needed advice and I have to confess that I thought my days of dealing with this company were finished. Unfortunately another person needs some help. I am sure that I will have a number of questions in the future, but this is the first. If a person is a franchisee for a company, yet has to start work at the time the company tells them, do the work that the company tells them without a choice, have breaks when the company tells them and finish when they are told and not before(in short the same conditions as when they were employed by the company); are they classed as self employed or an employee? What examples are there to support this please? Thank you so much.

Hi there, sorry if this has been done already but I would like a comprehensive list of expenses that Self employed people can put towards offsetting their tax. Can Electricity, water, gas excetera be used? many thanks BB

I am self-employed as a painter and decorator and am doing some work for a contractor who says he has to deduct tax from my wages. I'm a bit concerned about this because this is my first job this tax year and I imagine it will be an emergency tax code which will mean paying a lot more than if I was employed and had a code. I realiseI will get this back eventually but could do without it being taken off me now, I understood that, as a self-employed person, my tax affairs were my own responsibility and I wonder if anyone could throw some light on what is supposed to happen in a situation like this. Thanks in anticipation

I have been working for a company since 2006(since the beginning). I was employed by the company, but in August 2010 it was mutually agreed I would become a self-employed consultant of the company. This was a mutual agreement as my employer wanted the benefit of not paying PAYE, and it was 'sold' to me on the basis it would be more tax efficient for me. I was told nothing would change in the way of rights, holiday entitlement etc. I was on a commission based salary package, which simply rolled over when my status changed to self-employed. Gradually since August 2010 my 'package' has changed for the worse, and ive not had a leg to stand on, as I dont have any of the usual employee rights, although the understanding always was I would keep these rights, and the self-employed status was merely the status on paper, but in reality I would be an employee. Today I learnt that my boss intends to take away my holiday entitlement, on the basis that I’m self-employed and I have no right to this entitlement. Do I have any rights as a permanent self-employed consultant? I have been paid continuously by the company every month since 2006, and even my income states 'salary' on my bank statements. I have various emails/correspondence going self-employed which states 'salary', changes to my 'salary package' etc Thanks for any help in advance

Hi all can someone give me a bit of advice as I've never done this before can I claim any sort of sickness benefit ? to cut a long story short I have been self employed for 17 yrs last year I damaged my shoulder at work I've had physiotherapy etc since the accident but this has made no difference I was told yesterday by a consultant that I now require an operation to correct the damage and will require to be off work for up to 6 months after the operation I believed I had insurance to cover however this may now not be the case ( policy wording changed apparently ) who would I contact for information on making a claim ? my ni payments are up to date , or do they not pay anything to self employed.? Thanks CB

I am in the process of preparing to reclaim the PPI payments on a particular credit card account. I requested a copy of my original application form in order to see how the cover was originally applied to the account, and I have now received this. It was a postal application, which I had already believed I recalled being the case, and the PPI option box was not pre-ticked - I ticked it myself as I had always previously believed cover to be a useful safety net. I was therefore not *sold* PPI but added it voluntarily, though I understand there is/was still an obligation to review a postal application and bring to notice anything untoward. I was never contacted, just approved and sent the card/account with PPI in place I made the application as self-employed, ticking the appropriate box. I now have the following question about this, which I would appreciate any knowledgeable answers to please. I think I have seen it said widely including a couple of official websites, that self-employed status is in fact one of the more strong reasons why a PPI policy is considered to be mis-sold, the protection either not applying at all or if it does then only to a very limited degree of benefit. Is this correct in any strict manner, or is it just a fingers-crossed kind of thing? If it is a firm fact I should clearly slant my claim entirely in that direction, however I do not want to sideline anything useful in a different regard if it is not. Many thanks for any views on this.

We have a self-employed person (28 yrs old) providing a service for our business. Unfortunately a problem has arisen with this service and we have written to the person explaining this. In way of a response all they will say is that we should not contact them directly but to their representative; the representative is their father. We have so far sent four letters and have received the same response every time. We have also received a letter from the father saying we should address all corrrespondence, referring to his son, to him. Do we have any obligation to deal with anyone other than the person providing the service. Any advice welcome. Thank you.

Can anyone clarify a few things about a claim for PPI I recently made please? I received a letter from Egg a few months ago advising that I may have been mis-sold PPI so I filled in the questionnaire and sent it back. I was self employed from 2002 to 2011. I had a loan in 2003 with them that was settled in 2006 and I think I was paying for PPI - I have no paper work for it anymore. I received a letter back from Canada Square Operations who are handling the ppi claims and it says: "I understand from your complaint that it concerns the sale of payment protection insurance, and in particular that you are of the opinion that you were mis-sold a product... We note the allegation you have made regarding the sale of the policy, is that you did not feel the policy was appropriate for your circumstances as you were self-employed at the time of the sale. We acknowledge there may have been flaws in our sales process. However, despite the allegation you have made I am not persuaded that the sale failing you identified above would have affected your decision to take out the PPI. This is because, taking in to account your circumstances at the time of the sale which are disclosed in your questionnaire, it is clear that you had no other means at the time of protecting your loan repayments. You stated in D.5 of the questionnaire that you would not have received any pay from your employer if you were off work due to incident, sickness or it you were made redundant. You also stated in section D.6 that you did not have any other means of making your repayments if you were unable to work through sickness accident or unemployment. As a result, I am rejecting your complaint and this letter represents our final response" I'm obviously not happy with the decision but I can't work out why it has been rejected. The reasons don't make sense to me. I was self-employed, they haven't said that I would have been covered so I am assuming I was exempt from the policy. I know I wouldn't have bought it had they told me I wasn't covered so surely, I have been mis-sold it - either by them asking my profession and ignoring it, or by not telling me I wouldn't be covered if I was self employed? Why is there this emphasis in the letter about not having any other means to cover my loan repayments? Surely I take out PPI because I have no other means to cover it so that point is irrelevant?? Sorry for the long post- I am trying to decide whether to appeal as the letter also says I can do that within 6 months to the ombudsman, I just don't want to make an argument that isn't valid and waste my time if someone can point out what it all really means. Thanks for looking and Happy Christmas! Andy

I am feeling so ill. After 3 years off of work in recovery from alcoholism. I decide to go back to work. I am a single lady with two dependant children. I don't mix well with people so decide to work from home. Mainly freelance typing. I thought I had to do 16 hours a week, which I have been doing, although I have kept no note of the hours I have worked. I have now received a letter from tax credits saying they want details of hours I have worked, money I have received. Bank statements etc etc. I have sent them all have but I didn't keep notes of the exact hours I worked. I feel bullied to be honest. I was bullied to get off of the sick and now I feel bullied I have returned to work. The stress of this review they are doing is enough to make me sick again anyway. It seems I can't do right for doing wrong. I have two children to support and I have to stay away from the bottle (which I have successfully done for 3 years). I am not just having major panic attack and anxiety because I feel they are going to say I don't work enough. I can't sleep or eat and just feel the need to be signed off again, which totally defeats doing the right thing and starting to earn my own money again. Why have the picked on me?

5 years ago I began an admin job with a sole trader independent social worker (!) who urged me from the very start to register as self-employed. Being naive and desperate for work, I eventually registered for self-employed status about 6 months later. I have kept up NI 2 contributions since that time and put in self-assessments at the relevant times. HMRC's ESI tool says I was an employee. The job consisted of going into the office with the exception of a couple of times when he was away on holiday and I did some work from home. It was established at the beginning that I would be paid £8ph and this went up to £12 at the beginning of this year. I kept notes on my phone to document the hours I worked, for instance 09.09.2012 - 09:46-16:30. I would then tell the employer when I was owed in the region of £500 and they would have me invoice him OR his wife (with her own business) OR one of his clients who would then pay me. I got no holiday or sick pay - the days I didn't work I didn't get paid. I was plainly told that the reason for issuing invoices in this way would be to legitimately preserve my self-employed status as I would be seen to have multiple cilents. 3 weeks ago I was dismissed with about 12 hours notice. I've had no work (and no income) since and have none for the foreseeable future, and apparently can't claim JSA and the housing benefit situation is very complicated. I'm committed to going through the tribunal route, but not sure yet whether to handle it myself or through a specialist. I understand I have 3 months following effective termination date to do this. But, because it's plain that my employer has evaded both income tax and VAT by this sham arrangement, do I go straight to HMRC? Am I going to have to do a self assessment before 31st Jan 2013 for my income in the tax year ending April 2012??? If my status is 'overturned' before that time I mean. Any help or advice really appreciated including recommended reading.

can someone point me in the right direction - am i self employed or a contractor - and as such, what rights do i have ? I pay 20% tax at source ( CIS) I have regular working hours every day ( can't work whenever i want) I don't get paid holidays I don't get sick pay From what i can gather, im a contactor, as someone who is self employed gets to pick his or hers own working hours. As a contractor, am i not entitled to some kind of holiday pay ??? Any thoughts ?