Sickness Benefit for Self Employed

If you want to become self-employed, you can achieve financial stability. However, if you get sick, you can always check with the local government.

Find out if you are eligible for a sickness benefit in your city or country.

Being self-employed has its advantages and disadvantages. If you think that the pros outweigh the cons, then you can proceed with the business venture. Many people lost their jobs in the past years and with the tight economy, most of them opted to start their own business and become self-employed. What happens if you get sick? Are you also entitled to receive sickness benefits?

If you can’t work, you not be able to earn any income unless you have your own staff that performs most of the tasks or daily responsibilities. However, if you are self-employed and you don’t have employees, you might start getting problematic. The best way to address this situation is to check on the income support or incapacity benefit.

Eligibility Info

If you want to apply for the incapacity benefit or sickness allowance, you need to find out the eligibility requirements. This will include the following:

  • Of legal age (in other countries, you may need to be 21 years or older)
  • Resident of the city or region where you’re claiming such benefit
  • You still plan to be self-employed after you get well

Make sure that you are qualified for the sickness benefit before filing. This is to ensure that your efforts will not be wasted.

Incapacity Benefits

If you want to avail of sickness benefits, there are some things you should know. For the short term, the benefits are given for the initial 28 weeks. Just in case your condition is not yet better, the benefits can be extended up to the 52nd week. There are also long term benefits but this is usually given starting on week 53.

The amount will vary depending on your age. If you are already on your pension age, you can only avail of the short term sickness benefits. To get the sickness allowance, you have to choose a secured mode of payment.

If you’re feeling better and you want to return to work, you may still continue to receive sickness benefits. However, this is only referred to as permitted work. Still, this might affect other benefits that you might receive such as council tax, income support, and housing benefit.

Make sure that you consult with your lawyer because the claims or applications can be confusing. With a little help from the professionals, you don’t have to worry about your venture and you still enjoy some benefits. Consult with the concerned government office or agency and once you have the needed information, you can now file a claim or application.

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