What help can I access if my income in football/sport has been affected?
In line with Government advise to postpone grassroots football for the foreseeable future, Kent FA are aware that this will have a significant impact upon many people who rely on football, and sport as a source of income, or even their livelihood.

In order to best support the Kent footballing community during this unprecedented time, Kent FA  have pulled together some options that coaches, football providers, referees, team administrators, club officials may be able to access through the Government’s recently announced financial measures.

All of the below has been compiled from GOV.uk

If you contract COVID-19?
Statutory sick pay can be claimed through your employers if you contract Coronavirus or are self-isolating because of the pandemic. Emergency legislation means that you’ll be able to get SSP from the first day you are self-isolating and cannot work, as far back as 13 March 2020.

Details regarding eligibility, what you’ll get and how to claim can be found here

Run a small to medium sized business in sport? You can now reclaim SSP paid for staff sickness due to Coronavirus, covering up to 2 weeks absence per employee.

The Government are developing this at the moment, and any updates can be found here

Self employed or not eligible for SSP?
You can make a claim for Universal Credit or Employment and Support Allowance, which will now be paid from day 1 of sickness if you have COVID-19 or are advised to stay at home.

To find out if you are eligible please click here 

Demand for employment been affected by COVID-19?

Furloughed workers
If your employer cannot cover staff costs due to COVID-19, they may be able to support continue paying part of your wage, to avoid redundancies.

As an employer, you can access the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme if your employee does not undertake work while furloughed. 

This will allow a grant to the total of 80% of the employees wage to be accessed, up to a cap of £2,500 per month.

The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme is to run from 01 March 2020 for 3 months, and extended if necessary.

Information for the employer can be found here

Access to the Welfare System
If your job has been affected by the impact of COVID-19 you will be able to access Universal Credit, which can be accessed without attending the job centre. Moreover, from 06 April, the standard allowance will be increased.

Self-employed members of the Kent football community may also be to access Universal Credit & Employment and Support Allowance providing they meet the usual eligibility criteria.

Meanwhile, the next set of Self-assessment tax payments are being delayed until January 2021 meaning there will be no payment due in July 2020.

Other avenues to lessen the burden

Mortgage holiday
Banks will offer forebearance on mortgage agreements. You can agree a three month break in payments with your lender during this difficult time. It is likely that this would lead to a small uplift (including interest) in future payments.

Some credit card and loan firms are offering support for those experiencing hardship. You should contact your provider directly.

Protection for renters
You should speak to your landlord as soon as possible to inform them of your situation and agree a repayment plan moving forward.

Double check whether you are accessing all financial support available to you through the Welfare System. The Government have recently announced that Universal Credit and Housing Benefit have been increased to cover at least 30% of market rents in your local area.

You landlord won’t be able to start eviction proceedings for at least the next three months protecting renters during this difficult time.

More information around the support available to renters can be found here

Pause Sky Sports subscription
Sky are offering customers the opportunity to pause their Sky Sports subscription in the absence of any live action. You will still have access to the 11 channels, but your payments will be suspended until the action resumes. 

You can find details of how to pause your Sky Sports subscription here

PureGym
Access one of PureGym’s facilities in Kent? Following Government instruction, all gyms have temporarily closed and PureGym have stopped payments until your facility has reopened.

More information on this can be found here

Free boosts from mobile companies
Sky Mobile is giving all its mobile customers a 10GB boost for free until April. This will be applied automatically

Existing customers with Sky Talk will receive free calls to UK landlines until the end of April.

Virgin Mobile ‘pay monthly’ customers will get unlimited minutes to mobile and landline numbers along with a 10GB boost

Support from your energy providers
The Government and Utility suppliers are working together to try and ensure homes continue to have gas and electricity provided.  They have urged people to get in touch if they cannot top up the pre-payment method. Please get in touch with your suppliers if this could affect you. The information is constantly changing so please click here to stay up to date 

Temporary Jobs Available
A number of different companies and organisations are offering temporary jobs to keep the country moving. If you are healthy and able to seek alternative employment at this crucial time there are over 1000 temporary jobs available. Click here for more information.