Furlough Payments - My whole family have received zilch

O

Ollygon

Well-known member
Apparently millions of people in this country are receiving furlough payments, and the taxpayers (including me) will have to eventually foot the bill one way or another. Yet no member of my family has received a penny from this.

I wonder just how many of these recipients have moaned about "benefit scroungers" in the past? Yet these furloughers are happy to receive far more than anybody on benefits ever got.

The same goes for the Government. It's ok to pour billions of pounds into the economy for furlough payments, and yet we've been told for the last 10 years that the benefits bill is too high and needs cutting.

And you know what's going to happen in the future. Public sector pay freeze for the next 30 years. As the mantra in Animal Farm says - private sector good, public sector bad. Hypocrisy and double standards.

But what else can you expect from this Government and their supporters ?
 
I'm self-employed shut down for 8 weeks put in a claim and they are paying me for March-June(whole 3 months) even though I'm back to work and lockdown didn't start till the 23rd March!
It's madness there wasn't a section for time off just here you go we are paying you in full I'll get taxed on it but even so.

Also this last week or so I've spoke to a plumber,2 joiners,electrician,landscaper and they have all claimed for the furlough while still working threw the crisis basically getting paid twice while I thought the right thing to do was stay at home to prevent the disease spreading.

There must be loads who have shafted the system.
 
There are many who would give their eye teeth to have a guaranteed salary right now.
One of my sons has had an enforced pay cut of 10% dressed up as ‘volunteering to accept it’ to keep his job.
The other two have lost their jobs.
The fourth has graduated with no chance of finding work in the immediate.
 
In my opinion - anyone who has shafted the system should get 10 years!

From what I have been told there will be retrospective legislation (highly highly unusual) to cover this; the only reason (again I have been told) that it has not been announced yet is due to complications with the Human Rights Act.

BUT - they expect to do it, and throw the book at the ones who took the Michael!!
 
Ollygon said:
Apparently millions of people in this country are receiving furlough payments, and the taxpayers (including me) will have to eventually foot the bill one way or another. Yet no member of my family has received a penny from this.

I wonder just how many of these recipients have moaned about "benefit scroungers" in the past? Yet these furloughers are happy to receive far more than anybody on benefits ever got.

The same goes for the Government. It's ok to pour billions of pounds into the economy for furlough payments, and yet we've been told for the last 10 years that the benefits bill is too high and needs cutting.

And you know what's going to happen in the future. Public sector pay freeze for the next 30 years. As the mantra in Animal Farm says - private sector good, public sector bad. Hypocrisy and double standards.

But what else can you expect from this Government and their supporters ?
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Hold on - I receive furlough payments on which I am taxed and pay NI Contributions on top of my own personal pension which are all deducted then I get my payment. I AM a taxpayer and continue to be one - not MY decision to be put on furlough and I’m about £500 down on my normal take home, something I’d rather not be thank you very much!
 
I’m self employed and qualified for the payment, it doesn’t say you can’t still be working and claim it? I’ve not been working as my work was put on hold but i’m sure many just carried on...
 
Bottle said:
Hold on - I receive furlough payments on which I am taxed and pay NI Contributions on top of my own personal pension which are all deducted then I get my payment. I AM a taxpayer and continue to be one - not MY decision to be put on furlough and I’m about £500 down on my normal take home, something I’d rather not be thank you very much!
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Exactly this! I am on furlough. I haven't chosen to be. But when it is safe for my work to open again, I will be back. The government is doing this to protect jobs as much as possible, and support people until they can safely go back to their jobs. I am not enjoying furlough. I am here worrying about my future. Currently mid trying to buy a house and the bank changes its rules. Currently here worried will my workplace survive. Will I get a few months back at work then they decide to just close the doors because of lost sales even after reopening, due to impact of social distancing and Coronavirus. So while you judge us on furlough for a couple of months support in all our years of taxpaying, to get some benefit from it. It isn't just us accepting and sitting back laughing that were getting paid to not be in work. It isn't us taking the piss out of the benefit system.
 
Benefits and furlough aren’t like for like and can’t be compared as though they are. That’s far too simplistic.
Like the op I don’t have a family member who will receive any furlough payments and will be repaying this debt through my own taxes. But I don’t begrudge any furlough payments made if applied for and received according to the rules laid out.
 
Lala said:
Benefits and furlough aren’t like for like and can’t be compared as though they are. That’s far too simplistic.
Like the op I don’t have a family member who will receive any furlough payments and will be repaying this debt through my own taxes. But I don’t begrudge any furlough payments made if applied for and received according to the rules laid out.
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None of us have had furlough either. Still working, or pensioners.
 
Ollygon said:
Apparently millions of people in this country are receiving furlough payments, and the taxpayers (including me) will have to eventually foot the bill one way or another. Yet no member of my family has received a penny from this.

I wonder just how many of these recipients have moaned about "benefit scroungers" in the past? Yet these furloughers are happy to receive far more than anybody on benefits ever got.

The same goes for the Government. It's ok to pour billions of pounds into the economy for furlough payments, and yet we've been told for the last 10 years that the benefits bill is too high and needs cutting.

And you know what's going to happen in the future. Public sector pay freeze for the next 30 years. As the mantra in Animal Farm says - private sector good, public sector bad. Hypocrisy and double standards.

But what else can you expect from this Government and their supporters ?
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Did you mean "Four legs good, two legs bad"?

I'm pretty sure Orwell wasn't referring to the public and private sector. 😊
 
Killingmesoftly said:
I’m self employed and qualified for the payment, it doesn’t say you can’t still be working and claim it? I’ve not been working as my work was put on hold but i’m sure many just carried on...
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That would be fraud. You can't carry on doing the same, but you can receive furlough and get another job with someone else.
 
poolseasider said:
You quoted it doesn't say you can't work and claim it isn't that fraud?
I know you've been off same as me. 👍
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Think it says you can claim if you’ve been affected by Covid 19, but you can still be working?
so let says you have a small half day job cancelled due to someone self isolating, then technically you’ve been affected, right or wrong that’s the criteria? I think...😁
 
Yes it’s not fraud if you’re self employed and not trading through a company. You can continue your trade and still be entitled to the grant as long as you have been adversely affected in some way, however small.
 
L’étranger said:
Yes it’s not fraud if you’re self employed and not trading through a company. You can continue your trade and still be entitled to the grant as long as you have been adversely affected in some way, however small.
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But your claiming 80% of your income not 10/20 etc or been let down by the odd job so basically you could be on nearly double what you would normally get in a month that can't be right?
 
I spoke to a lady yesterday who told me that her friend owns several business in Blackpool that are closed due to covid. She said he expected to receive 80k, but has only received 25k.
I said he needs to take it up with HMRC then, and she said nah, he says he will just change the name of each of his business’s at the end of the year to avoid paying business rates going forward 🤔
I’m confused as not au fait with business rules and rates but that doesn’t sound very ethical.
 
Ollygon said:
Apparently millions of people in this country are receiving furlough payments, and the taxpayers (including me) will have to eventually foot the bill one way or another. Yet no member of my family has received a penny from this.

I wonder just how many of these recipients have moaned about "benefit scroungers" in the past? Yet these furloughers are happy to receive far more than anybody on benefits ever got.

The same goes for the Government. It's ok to pour billions of pounds into the economy for furlough payments, and yet we've been told for the last 10 years that the benefits bill is too high and needs cutting.

And you know what's going to happen in the future. Public sector pay freeze for the next 30 years. As the mantra in Animal Farm says - private sector good, public sector bad. Hypocrisy and double standards.

But what else can you expect from this Government and their supporters ?
Click to expand...
Aww didums
 
jack_bfc said:
Dont be a knob!!
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Yep, HS2 will be delayed for years by this CV, to the point where it might not be worth it, depending on how society changes. It will not be cancelled while Bozo is PM since he has much of his credibility staked on it.

Also, HS2 has become a behemoth, slowly grinding forward, with all the compulsory purchases of houses, farms, land etc. It will be difficult to reverse those and the civil servants would rather just stick their heads in the sand without any clear decision from Bozo. But delayed it will be, by years, until either the economy recovers or it becomes an obsolete choice.
 
All within the rules, subject to the £50k annual profit limit and
poolseasider said:
But your claiming 80% of your income not 10/20 etc or been let down by the odd job so basically you could be on nearly double what you would normally get in a month that can't be right?
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Yes it’s allowed within the rules subject to other criteria eg profits need to be below £50k pa.
poolseasider said:
But your claiming 80% of your income not 10/20 etc or been let down by the odd job so basically you could be on nearly double what you would normally get in a month that can't be right?
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Yes it’s right as long as profit has been adversely affected and you satisfy all the other criteria eg £50k profit pa etc.
 
Wizaard said:
That would be fraud. You can't carry on doing the same, but you can receive furlough and get another job with someone else.
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Some self-employed have claimed the furlough from one business (you have to submit accounts to claim) and simply started invoicing from another limited company they have set up. With the new company having a different nominal owner and director(s). There’s no way all these scams will be caught.
 
Archibald Knox said:
Some self-employed have claimed the furlough from one business (you have to submit accounts to claim) and simply started invoicing from another limited company they have set up. With the new company having a different nominal owner and director(s). There’s no way all these scams will be caught.
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Probably not but like someone stated before, there’s going to be an unusually special effort to try and retrospectively root out any covid 19 fraudulent activity, and punishment will be harsh.
 
L’étranger said:
All within the rules, subject to the £50k annual profit limit and

Yes it’s allowed within the rules subject to other criteria eg profits need to be below £50k pa.

Yes it’s right as long as profit has been adversely affected and you satisfy all the other criteria eg £50k profit pa etc.
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Wow no wonder the tradesmen I spoke to have carried on working there basically getting a load of free money(minus tax)thrown at them and will just throw a few bills in the bin.
 
Archibald Knox said:
Yep, HS2 will be delayed for years by this, to the point where it might not be worth it, depending on how society changes.

It will not be cancelled while Bozo is PM since he has much of his credibility staked on it. Also, HS2 has become a behemoth, slowly grinding forward, with all the compulsory purchases of houses, farms, land etc. It will be difficult to reverse those and the civil servants would rather just stick their heads in the sand without any clear decision from Bozo. But delayed it will be, by years, until either the economy recovers or it becomes an obsolete choice.
Click to expand...

Delayed by years.. really? Work is continuing on many of the HS2 sites, and has been throughout so called lockdown.
Multi million pound contracts and tenders are being issued every month generating more and more jobs in the sector and will continue to do so whether you like it or not..
 
Lala said:
Probably not but like someone stated before, there’s going to be an unusually special effort to try and retrospectively root out any covid 19 fraudulent activity, and punishment will be harsh.
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Proving that will be very difficult. Unless the person has been stupidly careless.
 
jack_bfc said:
Delayed by years.. really? Work is continuing on many of the HS2 sites, and has been throughout so called lockdown.
Multi million pound contracts and tenders are being issued every month generating more and more jobs in the sector and will continue to do so whether you like it or not..
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HS2 is business as normal, is it? Absolute rubbish.
 
Archibald Knox said:
HS2 is business as normal, is it? Absolute rubbish.
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And you know different how excatly?

I travel to London every week to work on a diffent railway project and see the enabling works in Euston carrying on as usuall.. As are all the major HS2 sites..

Quote from HS2...

'Where our supply chain is confident it can operate in line with PHE and CLC guidance, sites have continued to operate, and construction works are continuing to be undertaken. Every construction site across the line of route will remain under constant review, and at any time our supply chain are not able to follow PHE and CLC guidelines, we will take appropriate actions to ensure the safety of the workforce and communities in which we are working. '

Business as usuall... Its called getting on with it, instead of whinging about how many people are sat on Blackpool prom dropping litter.
 
Well, that HS2 quote is the most comprehensive set of weasel words for doing nothing that I have seen in a long time. They’re fecked and they know it.

I did not say HS2 would be cancelled, I said it would be delayed and then societal development would catch up with it. You’d have to be Dr Pangloss on steroids to think otherwise.
 
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Ollygon said:
Apparently millions of people in this country are receiving furlough payments, and the taxpayers (including me) will have to eventually foot the bill one way or another. Yet no member of my family has
Click to expand...
Ollygon said:
Apparently millions of people in this country are receiving furlough payments, and the taxpayers (including me) will have to eventually foot the bill one way or another. Yet no member of my family has received a penny from this.

I wonder just how many of these recipients have moaned about "benefit scroungers" in the past? Yet these furloughers are happy to receive far more than anybody on benefits ever got.

The same goes for the Government. It's ok to pour billions of pounds into the economy for furlough payments, and yet we've been told for the last 10 years that the benefits bill is too high and needs cutting.

And you know what's going to happen in the future. Public sector pay freeze for the next 30 years. As the mantra in Animal Farm says - private sector good, public sector bad. Hypocrisy and double standards.

But what else can you expect from this Government and their supporters ?
Click to expand...

What a mis guided post.

I am on furlough. Not my choice. I am involved in sport which has dried up.

I have also worked for 24 years and paid 10s of £1000s in tax and NI. Also some benefit scroungers do not contribute.

Very sorry for your jealousy but I and fellow furlough people are not on holiday.
 
All 5 in our household working as well.

Eldest even moved jobs earlier this month and started his new job in the prison service.

I'm expecting tough times with tax, NI and stealth taxes over the next 10 years.

Frustrating as personally I don't believe it was necessary. Not getting into an argument today on that point. 😀
 
Archibald Knox said:
Well, that HS2 quote is the most comprehensive set of weasel words for doing nothing that I have seen in a long time. They’re fecked and they know it.

I did not say HS2 would be cancelled, I said it would be delayed and then societal development would catch up with it. You’d have to be Dr Pangloss on steroids to think otherwise.
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To be fair, schemes such as HS2 will be needed more than ever to create employment given that millions of jobs will be going. By investing in infrastructure it both creates jobs in the short and medium term whole creating a longer term upgrade of what this country needs.
 
I'm one of the self employed who fell through the net - my accountant said I'd qualify for 80% salary but he was wrong - I'm not bitter but it is harsh as I've paid income tax since day1 and always submitted all my VAT and tax returns on time ... new business non-existent for me since lockdown started ....
 
Blackpool_Rox said:
I'm one of the self employed who fell through the net - my accountant said I'd qualify for 80% salary but he was wrong - I'm not bitter but it is harsh as I've paid income tax since day1 and always submitted all my VAT and tax returns on time ... new business non-existent for me since lockdown started ....
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How come you don’t qualify Rox ?
 
My family and myself have been fortunate enough to receive a Hospitality Grant/Furlough payments and a ‘Bounce Back Loan’. None of it was easy to get but with gentle perseverance the funding has arrived. We have been lucky and although our business is closed we have no current financial worries. That said, we would all prefer to be working. Never claimed a penny in benefits in my life so it’s good to receive some government support.
 
Hadley said:
My family and myself have been fortunate enough to receive a Hospitality Grant/Furlough payments and a ‘Bounce Back Loan’. None of it was easy to get but with gentle perseverance the funding has arrived. We have been lucky and although our business is closed we have no current financial worries. That said, we would all prefer to be working. Never claimed a penny in benefits in my life so it’s good to receive some government support.
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Good for you, glad you got the support you’ve earned and deserved 👍
 
Look, everyone has a personal story to tell. I'm content to believe them all but please, don't use it as a stick to beat others with. If some are playing the system then they need to be punished. Otherwise, blame systems or politicians, not ordinary folk.
 
Hadley said:
My family and myself have been fortunate enough to receive a Hospitality Grant/Furlough payments and a ‘Bounce Back Loan’. None of it was easy to get but with gentle perseverance the funding has arrived. We have been lucky and although our business is closed we have no current financial worries. That said, we would all prefer to be working. Never claimed a penny in benefits in my life so it’s good to receive some government support.
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And that's what you'll remember in years to come what ended up in your wallet and the help you got not the mistakes the Gov at the time made when you toddle off to the ballot box.
 
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Wizaard said:
To be fair, schemes such as HS2 will be needed more than ever to create employment given that millions of jobs will be going. By investing in infrastructure it both creates jobs in the short and medium term whole creating a longer term upgrade of what this country needs.
Click to expand...
I am all for investing in infrastructure, as it has gone to the dogs in the last 10 years. As long as it is in the right infrastructure. I was originally strongly for HS2 mainly because rail freight adds to congestion on the NW line and we need to get long-distance HGVs off the motorways. And over all this is carbon dioxide emissions and climate change, which hasn’t gone away.

But, now, due to the CV and internet technology I may be more ambivalent. There may simply be less need for people to travel. That’s why I said HS2 will be delayed by the CV (where’s the budget now? Rishi is rushing around spinning plates) and society’s priorities could change. I don’t know if HS2 will make it through but it’s going to be delayed, inevitably. And, even if it proceeds, it may just be stopped at Birmingham which totally undermines it’s real benefits, which was to connect the north.

Where we do need infrastructure improvement is in our cities and, most of all, our county towns, to make them liveable in again. That will take billions. The High Street shops have been decimated and town centres are becoming dead zones. Blackpool is a prime example. This is only going to get worse with increasing online business. We need a complete reboot in priorities and this is as good a time as we’ve ever had.
 
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