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In the News Chancellors announcement

Cougar377

Express elevator to hell
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Well, as I suspected....those of us who have recently entered self employment are left high and dry.
Only a couple of months trading, so no help. The only option given by the Chancellor (thank you Robert Person for asking him ) is to claim benefits.

Oh deep joy.

I've only done that once in my life and that was decades ago and only for a few months. I remember it being one of the most unpleasant experiences I've ever had.... being treated like scum and as if I was asking for money directly from the purse of the officious twat who handled my claim.

Anyone been down that route recently..? I'd just like to get a feel for what to expect.
 

ogr1

I can still see ya.....
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Big brother, interrogation, officialdom, jobs worth.
Like yourself i claimed for a couple of months way back in the 80s.
Never again..could'nt wait to escape their greedy finger pointing feckin clutches.
May as well have had a sign on my back...'Please kick me while i'm down.'
 

derek kelly

The Deli lama
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My eldest is working from home, today she received an email “As you know, times are hard at the moment & as such we will be forced into making savings, this will inevitably mean redundancies”
 

Cougar377

Express elevator to hell
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My eldest is working from home, today she received an email “As you know, times are hard at the moment & as such we will be forced into making savings, this will inevitably mean redundancies”

One of many more to come. :(
 

ogr1

I can still see ya.....
Club Sponsor
My eldest is working from home, today she received an email “As you know, times are hard at the moment & as such we will be forced into making savings, this will inevitably mean redundancies”

That sounds like bullshit to me..but it does'nt have to be that way...Government will pay 80% of employees wages.
My Mrs finished on Monday...no work, but her boss is claiming the 'furlough leave' and it also guarantees your job.
 

wildwill

Registered User
About 3 years ago, following a hip replacement, I had to claim Job Seekers Allowance. This was after working for 47 years, 37 years of which was as a contractor on North Sea oil and gas platforms. To say the process was stressful is a major understatement. I had to log on to my account every day for about 4 hours to prove I was looking for work. I also had to attend the office every week to explain to the cock behind the desk what I had been doing to find work. He even said he was going to send me on a 3 day course to learn how to update my CV, I told him it would be a very cold day in Hell before that happened. When I went back the following week expecting trouble from him......he was on the sick!
Bottom line though Cougar,you're entitled to this money, little as it is. They deliberately make it as hard as possible so decent people will give up on their claim. Play their games and get what you're entitled to mate, it's your money not theirs.
 

slim63

Never surrender
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Well, as I suspected....those of us who have recently entered self employment are left high and dry.
Only a couple of months trading, so no help. The only option given by the Chancellor (thank you Robert Person for asking him ) is to claim benefits.

Oh deep joy.

I've only done that once in my life and that was decades ago and only for a few months. I remember it being one of the most unpleasant experiences I've ever had.... being treated like scum and as if I was asking for money directly from the purse of the officious twat who handled my claim.

Anyone been down that route recently..? I'd just like to get a feel for what to expect.

As most of you know I get bugger all from the state for myself despite paying in consistently for 30 odd years, so have been jumping through all the hoops again recently in an attempt to get some help, the paperwork is a bit of a nightmare as 50% of the questions wont apply to a lot of people & 20% have no clear answer depending on your particular situation

You have two choices submit the paperwork & hope for the best or get help from someone like the CAB to fill it in, in the present situation I can see either of those options being somewhat problematic for a couple of reasons :(
1 waiting for the dwp is like watching paint dry at the best of times (10 weeks & counting so far for me)
2 I don't suppose the CAB are doing any appointments at the moment

Best of luck dealing with the system mate I doubt it will have got any better during the current crisis but all you can do is keep plugging away like millions of others :(
 

Minkey

Ok it was me
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I'd suggest having a word with CAB, I claimed benefits 3 years ago and not a nice experience, they said I had to do a course at the job centre, then said we couldn't use the toilets, instead had a 15 min walk to the nearest public toilet.:mad:
 

andyBeaker

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I do feel for anyone who is falling through the cracks of the measures announced today. It is the first time anyone has ever done this so hopefully some of the cracks will be filled as lessons are learned along the way.

I did like the fact that the chancellor made it very clear that those who live in the 'black economy' won't benefit. Seems fair enough to me - a bit of payback. Although equally I am sure the government won't let anyone starve (even I wouldn't want that although I hate those that deliberately leech from and don't contribute anything to society from their earnings) , regardless of whether they contribute to the system or not.
 

andyBeaker

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One thing anyone who is in or expects fianacial hardship really needs to do - if you expect to miss a payment on anything - mortgage/credit card/rent/HP....anything- contact the person/organisation in advance to let them know - most will be much more sympathetic than they will be if there is a wall of silence and no payment.
 

Minkey

Ok it was me
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We are in a very strange situation at the moment and I hate to say it the government are trying to find away to help as many people as they can, and some people will try to defraud them
 

slim63

Never surrender
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I do feel for anyone who is falling through the cracks of the measures announced today. It is the first time anyone has ever done this so hopefully some of the cracks will be filled as lessons are learned along the way.

I did like the fact that the chancellor made it very clear that those who live in the 'black economy' won't benefit. Seems fair enough to me - a bit of payback. Although equally I am sure the government won't let anyone starve (even I wouldn't want that although I hate those that deliberately leech from and don't contribute anything to society from their earnings) , regardless of whether they contribute to the system or not.

As a financial whizz kid do you really think the government can afford to pay 80% of a lot of peoples wages ? is it not going to lead the country into bankruptcy ?

Harking back to what I said on another thread if the threat of this virus was made known earlier a lot of us would have prepared better & therefore eased the strain on the economy ! Cougar for example may not have started his business & put some of the start up money aside to tide him over therefore needing less help & putting less strain on an already poor uk economy

Just to be clear I don't begrudge anyone what they are entitled to under the new rules but I am worried that we as a nation cannot afford it
 

Cougar377

Express elevator to hell
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As a financial whizz kid do you really think the government can afford to pay 80% of a lot of peoples wages ? is it not going to lead the country into bankruptcy ?

Harking back to what I said on another thread if the threat of this virus was made known earlier a lot of us would have prepared better & therefore eased the strain on the economy ! Cougar for example may not have started his business & put some of the start up money aside to tide him over therefore needing less help & putting less strain on an already poor uk economy

Just to be clear I don't begrudge anyone what they are entitled to under the new rules but I am worried that we as a nation cannot afford it
I've got a cunning plan to fast track any benefits claim that I make.

I just need to borrow a leaky rubber dingy and a life jacket....
 

slim63

Never surrender
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I've got a cunning plan to fast track any benefits claim that I make.

I just need to borrow a leaky rubber dingy and a life jacket....

No life jackets here sorry.................Ogri has a crap jacket if that's any good, might get you sent to broardmoor is you are seen outside in it though :D

Thought you already had a dingy? :p
 

andyBeaker

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As a financial whizz kid do you really think the government can afford to pay 80% of a lot of peoples wages ? is it not going to lead the country into bankruptcy ?

Harking back to what I said on another thread if the threat of this virus was made known earlier a lot of us would have prepared better & therefore eased the strain on the economy ! Cougar for example may not have started his business & put some of the start up money aside to tide him over therefore needing less help & putting less strain on an already poor uk economy

Just to be clear I don't begrudge anyone what they are entitled to under the new rules but I am worried that we as a nation cannot afford it
'Financial whizz kid'!!:jaja-no:

I touched on this in another thread - what is unique in this situation is that all countries are affected with all governments running up,debt like there is no tomorrow. As such in economic terms it is impossible to know what the world will look like when we come out of this. It's not like WW2 where America received a massive economic boost through manufacturing war goods for the Allies and subsequently went into the biggest economic boom the world has ever seen while Britain (amongst others) was paying for the goods and didn't end rationing until 1954.

The various markets are perhaps the best indicator of the future - they have to varying degrees bounced back (they always do .... and then everyone,particularly those who followed the herd and sold out, moan that some have taken the opportunity to make a few £) which is encouraging, although the £ and many other currencies have taken a battering as people move to US$ as is traditional in times of turmoil (no doubt as Trump has it all under control and America will be back to normal by Easter).

One thing I would love to see outlawed is the ability to 'short' the sale of shares on a speculative basis - this becomes a self fulfilling prophecy when volumes are high and in the current environment have affected in particular airline shares. Obviously they would have been hit anyway but shorting magnifies the effect for no other reason than profiteering by people who don't give a toss about the future of the business, it's employees or anyone else that is reliant on it such as suppliers.

In fact I would like to see all forms of financial speculation banned. But that won't happen.
 

Cougar377

Express elevator to hell
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No life jackets here sorry.................Ogri has a crap jacket if that's any good, might get you sent to broardmoor is you are seen outside in it though :D

Thought you already had a dingy? :p
I have an inflatable canoe.... far posher.
It doesn't leak and I might need that if I decide to go off the grid and take to the hills. :D

I might get away with an old car inner tube though. I don't think Ogr1's jacket would fool anybody. Even if you painted it yellow.
 

Pow-Lo

Make civil the mind, make savage the body.
Club Sponsor
'Financial whizz kid'!!:jaja-no:

I touched on this in another thread - what is unique in this situation is that all countries are affected with all governments running up,debt like there is no tomorrow. As such in economic terms it is impossible to know what the world will look like when we come out of this. It's not like WW2 where America received a massive economic boost through manufacturing war goods for the Allies and subsequently went into the biggest economic boom the world has ever seen while Britain (amongst others) was paying for the goods and didn't end rationing until 1954.

The various markets are perhaps the best indicator of the future - they have to varying degrees bounced back (they always do .... and then everyone,particularly those who followed the herd and sold out, moan that some have taken the opportunity to make a few £) which is encouraging, although the £ and many other currencies have taken a battering as people move to US$ as is traditional in times of turmoil (no doubt as Trump has it all under control and America will be back to normal by Easter).

One thing I would love to see outlawed is the ability to 'short' the sale of shares on a speculative basis - this becomes a self fulfilling prophecy when volumes are high and in the current environment have affected in particular airline shares. Obviously they would have been hit anyway but shorting magnifies the effect for no other reason than profiteering by people who don't give a toss about the future of the business, it's employees or anyone else that is reliant on it such as suppliers.

In fact I would like to see all forms of financial speculation banned. But that won't happen.
One of the reasons I’m certain this virus is a Chinese bio weapon. They were first to affected but they’ve miraculously contained the threat, when the rest of the world can’t, and their economy is on the upward move again. The rest of the world is up shit creek with no sign of a paddle and the markets in the rest of the world are in turmoil.

The shares of foreign companies in China have collapsed so the Chinese have bought them up for pennies. They now own these companies and the money never even had to leave China.

And I wonder who’s been buying all the stocks and shares that the arse has fallen out of in the western markets?
 

Lee337

Confused Poster
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Was looking at a accountancy chat site yesterday. Some interesting conversations being had around how Co Directors can inflate their pay as the majority of their income has been from dividends for years. While the Govt. has agreed to pay 80% of pay, this does not include dividends.

Other comments are around how can their companies claim the 80% while paying their employees only the 80% (don't think they've worked out that if they only pay 80%, they can only claim 80% of that), while still getting their employees to work.

It seems that the accountancy community are split as to the moral implication of trying to cheat this system, although those trying to assist their clients to cheat the system appear to be in the minority.
 

Pow-Lo

Make civil the mind, make savage the body.
Club Sponsor
Was looking at a accountancy chat site yesterday. Some interesting conversations being had around how Co Directors can inflate their pay as the majority of their income has been from dividends for years. While the Govt. has agreed to pay 80% of pay, this does not include dividends.

Other comments are around how can their companies claim the 80% while paying their employees only the 80% (don't think they've worked out that if they only pay 80%, they can only claim 80% of that), while still getting their employees to work.

It seems that the accountancy community are split as to the moral implication of trying to cheat this system, although those trying to assist their clients to cheat the system appear to be in the minority.
I don’t think it matters how the greedy directors manipulate their pay. The 80% that the government have agreed to pay is maximum of £2,500.
 

Cougar377

Express elevator to hell
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Started the process of submitting a claim online.

Feck me , but it's tedious. Part of the process involves confirming your identity through an agency called Digidentity (which is Dutch...). Lots of information to input.... the section which asks you to prove your financial identity by answering questions on aspects of your spending is particularly scarey. :rolleyes:
 
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