Self-employed clients

A client does not have to be getting a main benefit to qualify for Temporary Additional Support but they must meet the qualifications for Temporary Additional Support.

This includes the client taking all necessary steps to obtain all other sources of assistance that may be available. They also need to be taking reasonable steps to reduce their costs or increase their chargeable income.

Temporary Additional Support should not be used to financially assist a business. However, the reasons and likely length of the financial difficulty should be taken into account.

In some cases it may be possible for the client to meet their income deficiency by rearranging their business expenses to increase their net profit from the business, for example, if they can arrange with their bank to temporarily reduce their loan repayments.

It is important to remember though that the applicant is the client, not the business.

Each case must be considered on its own merits and the financial accounts of the client's business as well as the client's personal expenses should be examined carefully.