Hello everyone, hope you are all OK.  We had some good news this week that Ray Seagrave, who was awarded 2019 Regional Instructor of the year in the Intelligent Instructor awards has had Coronavirus, but is now recovered.

And we’ve heard from some ADIs who have written in to tell us their, quite different, experiences with applications for financial help.

“I wanted to update you in the outcome of my UC application…. unsurprisingly, my savings meant that I would get very little or no UC (16k savings is the limit), but more worryingly, it was confirmed that I would permanently lose the ‘child / working tax credit’ [but not the ‘child benefit’] that we get each month if I had proceeded with the UC. Since that’s a very helpful couple of hundred pounds, we felt it better to retain that than have a much smaller (or no) UC benefit. So now I, like many others, am waiting on the self-employed benefit in June back-dated to March.”

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“Having previously completed an online registration and ID verification for self-employed government support the other week, Sunday, 22nd March, I’ve just received a call from the Jobcentre and their subsequent text to confirm that my Universal Credit a/c is now set up.  They contacted me.

I am advised that I can access this a/c to select an income advance if needed prior to the prospective grant that may be awarded to me in June from HMRC.

My thought is that the update may encourage others that I simply registered then waited to hear and the government services have been busy working in the background processing my a/c.”

Thanks to those two members for writing in, it’s helpful to hear people’s experiences and may help or inform others.

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Arising from member queries, the following information comes from the Registrar and will be of interest to anyone whose badge ran out on 31 March or at the end of April (I suppose potentially May too if this carries on).

“We are advising ADIs whose registration lapsed at the end of March (or April when we get there) to defer their re-registration to prevent them from paying for something they cannot use.

They have up to a year to re-register without the need to requalify.  If they wish to do this, we refund the £300 and ask them to reapply when they can return to work.

They will need to be on the register once they start working again, so will need to submit their application before they take payment for instruction.  People in this position will be our priority, along with trainees. We are confident that we will be able dispatch certificates and trainee licences the same or the following day.

If anyone applied in March or April and now wants their money back because they are not teaching, they just need to email PADI@dvsa.gov.ukwith this request.  They won’t be on the register, so cannot provide instruction for payment until they reapply.”

Thanks to Jacqui Turland for this information.  You would of course need to ensure that your DBS is still in date when re-applying.

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Last night we sent out some guidelines for ADIs taking out critical workers.  These will be updated as we go along, and the first amendments will be –

Specific recommendations to ensure the pupil has their work photo ID card and test booking confirmation email available on them for all lessons, together with removing the roof board during any lessons and going to the DTC for test.

 

Thanks to John Rogers of the Disability Driving Instructor Group for drawing our attention to the following –

As well as the DVSA closing bookings for theory & practical tests, DVLA are also no longer accepting new applications for provisional driving licences.

Despite the centres being closed, third party sites on the internet are still offering to book tests or apply for provisional licences on your behalf, for a fee………
The third party sites cannot actually process the bookings or applications until DVSA/DVLA reopen and there does not seem to be any notification on these third party sites to tell applicants that DVSA/DVLA are currently closed; reports are coming through that they are continuing to accept applications and take money to do this.
Make sure that you tell your pupils and any new enquiries only to use the official GOV.UK sites.

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The Federation for Small Business (FSB) is collating all concerns from self-employed people regarding this matter.  These will then be raised with the Government.  We would therefore encourage you to contact the FSB directly in order to highlight your situation.  The email address is: selfemployed@fsb.org.uk. 

The more momentum we can get to put pressure on the government to improve the situation for the self employed the better.  In particular, those who have totally fallen through the cracks because they are newly self employed for example.  We got a mention in the Chancellor’s list because we all worked together and shouted.  We now need to shout some more.  We are only 39,500 so unless we shout we won’t be heard!

 

 

 

 

Whilst our newsflashes are normally a benefit of membership of the ADINJC, during this national emergency we want to share information as widely as possible, so please feel free to pass this on.  We are stronger together.

 

The NJC continues to be dedicated to help you in these challenging times and we hope you and your loved ones stay safe and healthy.  Please feel free to contact us for help and support.

 

ADINJC’s helpline is 0800 8202 444

The Secretary’s number is 07855 453414

You can find the latest NASP guidelines on Coronavirus here.

HMRC Helpline:  0800 0159 559
Citizens Advice Bureau – https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/health/coronavirus-what-it-means-for-you/

You can sign up to receive Government updates on Coronavirus relating to driving tests here.

The ADINJC is a national association run by ADIs on a not-for-profit basis.  We work tirelessly to inform, represent and support our members, and to promote the interests of our profession.