Claims open for second self-employed grant

The second stage of a government scheme to give financial help to self-employed people during the Covid-19 pandemic opened for applications today (Monday).

Under the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS), eligible applicants will receive a single grant worth 70% of average monthly trading profits for three months, capped at £6,570.

Anyone whose self-employed business has been hit by the pandemic since July 14 may make a claim – and the Treasury has said money will be paid into their accounts within six days.

More than three million people may be eligible for the payment, which Chancellor Rishi Sunak said would be the final hand-out.

HMRC said it was pleased with the positive start the scheme made when it opened this morning (Monday).

Angela MacDonald, deputy chief executive at the HMRC, told BBC Breakfast that 39,000 claims were made within the first hour-and-a-half after the scheme opened.

The SEISS scheme has already handed out £7.8bn of grants to more than 2.7 million people across the UK.

The first stage of the scheme saw it pay out 80% of average monthly trading profits for three months, capped at £7,500.

But, as with the larger coronavirus jobs retention scheme (CJRS) furlough scheme for employees, the scale of support is starting to be tapered off.

The Treasury said HM Revenue and Customs would contact all of those who are potentially eligible, even if they did not apply for the first grant, and customers who might be in line for the second grant should have been given a date to claim between today and August 21.

As with the first stage of the scheme, applicants will need to have trading profits of no more than £50,000, making up at least half of their total income.

The scheme closes on October 19. An online application service is available to claim the grant.

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