Claims Open for Second Self-Employed Support Grant
Millions of self-employed people whose trade has been hit by Coronavirus can now apply for a second support grant from the government.
More than three million people may be eligible for the payment of up to £6,570 each, 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 on Monday morning.
By early Monday 39,000 people had successfully made claims, HMRC said.
Angela MacDonald, deputy chief executive at the HMRC, told BBC Breakfast that those claims were made within the first hour-and-a-half after the scheme opened.
The claims window is initially open for a four-day period but anyone who thinks they may be eligible and hasn’t been contacted by HMRC has until October to make a claim, she said.
“We are trying very hard to contact all those people who are eligible in order to help them to understand when they can make their claim.”
If you think you are eligible and haven’t been contacted by HMRC, you can go onto the online system which will tell you if you are eligible, and when it is you can make a claim.
“People shouldn’t worry about needing to do everything too much in a rush,” said Ms MacDonald.
“If you don’t manage it in those first four days the claims systems is actually open until the 19th October, so therefore everybody’s got the time to do it to suit their working situation at the moment.”
