Hi everyone 💛

I’m hoping someone with experience of running a Community Interest Company (CIC) while claiming Universal Credit might be able to offer some advice. Or if they know anyone who has managed a similar situation to my own. 

I’m in the early stages of setting up a CIC and have been offered a six-month residency where the space has been paid for directly by an organisation and I shall be offering my work for mid life women starting in November. I’m really excited about the opportunity, but I’m becoming increasingly anxious about how the CIC’s funding could affect my UC. I don't have savings or an overdraft so it's not something I can afford for mistakes to be made about. Whether it's my mistakes or for that matter there's. 

I’ve been told by a work coach that the CIC’s income should be treated as self-employed income and that, unless the money is spent on allowable expenses within the same assessment period, it would effectively be counted as my personal income.

I’ve been researching the relevant government guidance and legislation and have shared the information I’ve found with them online as I believe he is incorrect. 

I’m trying to understand how this applies to a CIC, particularly given its separate legal structure and asset lock.

The difficulty is that grants and donations may be restricted to particular projects, and funding may need to remain in the CIC’s account until expenses arise later in the year. One day I'll have an income I hope but not any time soon!. 

And it wouldn’t necessarily be possible or appropriate to spend the money immediately on business expenses simply to avoid it affecting my UC.

I fully understand that any salary or personal income I receive must be declared correctly. My concern is about funding or donations that remains within the CIC for its future commitments, rather than money I receive personally.

I have an appointment this Wednesday and would really appreciate advice from anyone who has navigated this situation. **If UC continues to treat the CIC as though it were a sole-trader business, what options are available to challenge or clarify that assessment?** Is there specialist guidance or an organisation that could help? DWP advices we go to citizens advice I went there and they said they don't give what they deem to be business advice. And I can't currently afford legal advice and I'm just getting so anxious. I know may charities and cic s are created whilst people have some financial cushioning. But in reality they really don't appear to be up to date wit current dwp guidelines and I'm stumped on how to better help them gauge the correct response. Or if indeed I need to make some more formal appeal. I have as mentioned set across govt guidelines and hope that will help come Wednesday. 

But I don't have an extremely legal mind just a common sense one. So any advice people can give based on personal experience or that of others would so so be appreciated. 

I want to make sure everything is done correctly from the outset. 

I’d be incredibly grateful for any experiences, resources or signposting. Thank you so much for reading. 💛