LCWRA - Self Employment

justadad

Hi,

Short background…

My daughter is disabled and in receipt of LCWRA, she has a number of conditions that affect her but predominantly Learning Issues, ASD and PTSD. She does not really leave the house and when she does she needs to be accompanied and hence has only online friends.

She enjoys gaming online and likes to stream these games when playing, this is her only real means of social interaction and is normally manageable as it can be controlled as well as providing a delay in requiring a response. She started doing this for mental health reasons some 12 months ago.

Anyhow…

Somewhat naively, I was not aware that in the background funds were being generated.

[Q] I assume then that if this is the case then we need to declare her as self employed?

[Q] If so how do we go about that and will the DWP automatically recognise that she is not "gainfully employed" due to the LCWRA or is there something further that needs to be done?

[Q] No money has been withdrawn from the streaming service at any point and we are not in anyway attempting to keep it without declaring, so will she get into any trouble for not declaring as self employed earlier or can it be treated as a trialling stage and just declare the earnings after declaring her as self employed?

If it helps the money generated over the 12 months is approx £850

The online streaming should not contradict her LCWRA reasons.

Any help and advice appreciated.

OverlyAnxious

Hi,

Yes, just need to make a change of circumstances regarding earnings/employment. This can be done in the online journal.

She will need to report her earnings every month from now on.

Due to the LCWRA, there is a Work Allowance of £673* before any deductions are made. So it will not affect her payments, and she will not be expected to look for additional work.

(*I have assumed she lives with you and is not claiming housing costs. The work allowance is £404 if also claiming housing costs)

While the money is kept on the streaming service, this could be counted as capital, after the month in which it has been earned as income, though as long as she is well under £6000 total capital, that will also not affect her payments.