Self Employment & Keeping Benefits

eaglewings

Hi all,
A guy I know well who was on long term unemployment getting JSA, medical card, fuel allowance, low rent on RAS scheme etc., started a new business last August and went into self employment as a tour guide. When he started, SW only deducted €20 a week from his JSA and said he can keep all his other benefits, even the fuel allowance which is supposed to be means tested, and they even gave him the Christmas bonus.

He is currently earning €150 per day, plus all his expenses, and in addition to that, he has 2 other businesses, Irish grinds & Holiday home cleaning, plus he rents out the spare rooms in the house he has on the RAS scheme to tourists at €150 a week.

He said he's been told that he can keep all of his benefits for 3 years even though he is earning way above the means testing limits.

He's not on the BTWEA scheme as he's been on it previously and you cannot apply to go back on it again until 5 years has elapsed since you were last on it. He said that SW told him he is eligible to go back on it in November, but is that really possible as technically given that he is working now as a tour guide, he's not really long term unemployed anymore?

He still signs on every 4 weeks, has his money paid directly into the bank, and is basically signing to say that his circumstances have not changed, but they have, considerably.

He got a €5,000 loan from Micro-Finance Ireland towards his business and still he is claiming and getting €168 per week, has his medical card, and said he's been told he will definitely get the fuel allowance later in the year and the Christmas bonus if it's still in operation.

He is definitely getting all of these things as I've seen the proof, and he was on the local radio talking about his tourism business and shared about getting the €5,000 loan.

Does this mean then that really there's no need for anyone to apply for the BTWEA Scheme anymore as it works out better to just start your own business, if the only deduction is €20 a week and you get to keep all your added benefits and medical card for 3 years, even if you get a €5,000 loan or more?

Even on Phase 2 of New Frontiers, if you are lucky enough to get that far, once you are eligible for the €15,000, you cannot continue claiming JSA, you have to come off it and all of your additional benefits (medical card, fuel allowance) are means tested.

Reading the information on Welfare.ie and on the HSE website, it's not really very clear when it comes to going into self-employment after being long-term unemployed, whether or not you are eligible to keep all of your benefits for 3 full years.

Does anyone have any insight into this at all? Does anyone know what the actual facts are when it comes to wanting to start your own business and you're on long term JSA?

Any help and guidance would be appreciated as I would like to explore starting my own business, but want to make sure that I choose the best route possible. Thank you in advance for your help.

Nono Toure

eaglewings wrote: »

Hi all,
A guy I know well who was on long term unemployment getting JSA, medical card, fuel allowance, low rent on RAS scheme etc., started a new business last August and went into self employment as a tour guide. When he started, SW only deducted €20 a week from his JSA and said he can keep all his other benefits, even the fuel allowance which is supposed to be means tested, and they even gave him the Christmas bonus.

He is currently earning €150 per day, plus all his expenses, and in addition to that, he has 2 other businesses, Irish grinds & Holiday home cleaning, plus he rents out the spare rooms in the house he has on the RAS scheme to tourists at €150 a week.

He said he's been told that he can keep all of his benefits for 3 years even though he is earning way above the means testing limits.

He's not on the BTWEA scheme as he's been on it previously and you cannot apply to go back on it again until 5 years has elapsed since you were last on it. He said that SW told him he is eligible to go back on it in November, but is that really possible as technically given that he is working now as a tour guide, he's not really long term unemployed anymore?

He still signs on every 4 weeks, has his money paid directly into the bank, and is basically signing to say that his circumstances have not changed, but they have, considerably.

He got a €5,000 loan from Micro-Finance Ireland towards his business and still he is claiming and getting €168 per week, has his medical card, and said he's been told he will definitely get the fuel allowance later in the year and the Christmas bonus if it's still in operation.

He is definitely getting all of these things as I've seen the proof, and he was on the local radio talking about his tourism business and shared about getting the €5,000 loan.

Does this mean then that really there's no need for anyone to apply for the BTWEA Scheme anymore as it works out better to just start your own business, if the only deduction is €20 a week and you get to keep all your added benefits and medical card for 3 years, even if you get a €5,000 loan or more?

Even on Phase 2 of New Frontiers, if you are lucky enough to get that far, once you are eligible for the €15,000, you cannot continue claiming JSA, you have to come off it and all of your additional benefits (medical card, fuel allowance) are means tested.

Reading the information on Welfare.ie and on the HSE website, it's not really very clear when it comes to going into self-employment after being long-term unemployed, whether or not you are eligible to keep all of your benefits for 3 full years.

Does anyone have any insight into this at all? Does anyone know what the actual facts are when it comes to wanting to start your own business and you're on long term JSA?

Any help and guidance would be appreciated as I would like to explore starting my own business, but want to make sure that I choose the best route possible. Thank you in advance for your help.

If you're long term unemployed and you go on BTWEA, you'll get 100% benefits for year 1, and 75% benefits for year 2.

Also, that guy is an idiot for telling ALL his business.

eaglewings

Nono Toure wrote: »

If you're long term unemployed and you go on BTWEA, you'll get 100% benefits for year 1, and 75% benefits for year 2.

Also, that guy is an idiot for telling ALL his business.

Thank you for the reply. I appreciate it.

I had searched the Welfare.ie website and I couldn't find any details about this "scheme" that this guy says he's on.

The only option I could see is the one you mentioned, which is the BTWEA scheme.

You're right, the guy is an idiot for telling ALL his business, he seems to get a kick out of it to be honest.

I appreciate you taking the time to respond and clarifying things as it didn't make sense that you could stay on JSA with a minor deduction & all the additional benefits for a period of 3 years and there's no reference to it on Welfare.ie

Thanks again!