Financial support from the Government during Covid-19

Updated 25 March 2021

Self-Employment Income Support Scheme

The government have announced that the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme Grant has been extended. Visit the GOV.UK page to check if you are eligible, how your grant is calculated and make a claim.

The fourth grant will be available from late April 2021 until 31 May 2021. If you are eligible, HMRC will contact you in mid-April to give you your personal claim date. This will be the date that you can make your claim from.

The UK government has also announced that there will be a fifth and final grant covering May to September.

You will be able to claim from late July if you are eligible for the fifth grant.

More details on GOV.UK

Other support

There are two types of support that you may be able to receive through the welfare system:

Employment and Support Allowance (ESA)

You can apply for Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) if you have a disability or health condition that affects how much you can work.

You can also apply for ESA if you cannot work while you are self-isolating or ‘shielding’ because of coronavirus (COVID-19).

More information about eligibility for ESA can be found on the Government pages.

Check if you're eligible on GOV.UK

Universal Credit (UC)

This is a payment to help with your living costs. Your Universal Credit payment is made up of a standard allowance and any extra amounts that apply to you, for example, if you:

have children
have a disability or health condition which prevents you from working
need help paying your rent

Check if you're eligible for Universal Credit on GOV.UK

To complete your online claim, you should have the following information to hand:

Your earnings for the last month – this is all earnings, not just what you have earned delivering with Stuart
Any expenses you have from being self-employed – for example, your fuel costs
Your housing costs (such as your rent or mortgage)
Any savings you have over £6,000
Anyone else that lives in your household. If you live with a partner, they will also need to open a Universal Credit account
Any childcare costs
Any other income you may receive – for example, a pension or a bursary

You can read the Government’s advice on Universal Credit and COVID-19 here.

Normally it can take around five weeks to receive your first payment of Universal Credit. However, during your telephone appointment, you can ask for an advance payment of Universal Credit. You can read more about advances here.

ESA and UC can be claimed separately or at the same time.