Covid hits driving instructors left struggling to get Government aid
DRIVING instructors in Derby and Derbyshire are struggling to cope because problems getting Government cash has left them without a safety net.
Since the introduction of Tier 4 restrictions, driving instructors have been unable to work, with regulations preventing them from having students in their cars.
Help is available but several instructors have struggled to get the money because of red tape, leaving them with serious cashflow problems.
Gary Small, a selfemployed instructor from Derby, has been running his driving school since 2009 but has been unable to claim Government money because during 2018 he was unable to work following an operation on his leg.
“I had my foot fused in my ankle, so I had to have a rest because of that operation,” said Mr Small, a retired police officer. “I had built up a client base again by October 2019.”
But because he could not show any earnings for the 2018-19 tax year, he has been unable to claim the grant being given to other driving instructors, including his wife. “I do get a police pension but if I didn’t have that I’d be in the position where I would be looking at losing my house, not able to feed my family or pay for any of the cars.
“The driving school car wouldn’t get paid for, I wouldn’t be able to renew the badge, so that’d be the end of my career. “Mine is due for renewal this month. If you haven’t got the money, you can’t renew it and you can’t teach. It’s a vicious circle, the instructors get no help whatsoever. The insurance companies still want their money, they want the money for the badges.
“If I didn’t have a police pension I’d be stuffed.”
Mr Small has started a Go Fund Me Page to help driving instructors who are struggling financially and aims to give money to instructors locally in need. Visit the GoFundMe website and search for “driven-byinstructors”.
In response to Mr Small’s problem, a HMRC spokesperson said: “We are very sorry to hear of the customer’s medical issue. To help those with variable incomes, HMRC can determine eligibility on either their profits in 2018-19, or on an average between 2016-17 to 2018-19.”
They have also said that anyone attempting to claim who feels they have been given the incorrect answer can appeal on the phone.
They added: “We aim to resolve requests for reviews over the phone where possible, or within 10 working days if the query is more complex.”
Mr Small is not the only instructor struggling to claim Government aid.
Adam Blackwell, of Ambergate, near Belper, is currently learning to be an instructor. He previously worked as a civil servant in the Department for Work and Pensions.
“It was a fixed-term contract so after that ended I thought I’d work for myself, it would be great. My friend who was a driving instructor with Pass and Go got me into it.
“I thought I’d never be out of work again. Well that was the thought, but you’d never have guessed this would happen.”
Mr Blackwell has been learning to be a driving instructor on automatic cars since March 2019 and was only able to start earning money in his new role in October 2019 after passing the theory and driving portions of his examinations.
Mr Blackwell is able to work with Pass and Go on a temporary sixmonth contract, which he has to pay to renew while he waits to complete his final exam, which has been postponed twice due to Covid-19.
“This will be my second application for an extension and it’s costing me money each time. I’m just trying to get it completed so I can get on with my job.”
As Mr Blackwell is new to teaching, he has also been unable to receive Government grants as he cannot supply figures for the desired period. He is, however, able to claim Universal Credit.
He said: “I’ve worked all my life and then gone self-employed and
there’s no real support there. They could have just looked at what I’ve worked and what I’ve contributed, shouldn’t that mean something? Other people get furlough. I’m just disappointed, that’s all.”
Alongside struggling to get financial support, Adam also had to wait longer before returning to work between lockdowns as he has to shield due to a medical condition.
“I did apply for Jobseeker’s, but it’s barely a living wage and with my bills, I feel so frustrated. I also have a disability and I have been shielding, for the first lockdown. I had to shield longer than everyone else because of my vulnerability.
“I didn’t have enough support, just got a lot of people saying I needed to stay at home with no contact unless it was for medical support.
“I probably do regret it in some instances. My partner is able to work but I say to her maybe I shouldn’t have gone self-employed and I’ve been selfish.”
He added: “I have to try and see past it and do the best I can. I’m selling stuff on eBay to make ends meet.
“It has caused arguments, with lockdown and the work stopping, but I’m doing as much work to the house as possible because I don’t have any money coming in.”
Mr Blackwell is currently living in his partially renovated home. Unable to have work done due to his shielding, he and his partner are working to make the house as habitable as possible after living in a motorhome since November 2019.
In response to Mr Blackwell’s case, HMRC said: “Self-employed people who started trading in 2019/20 are not eligible for the third SEISS grant.
“The practical issues that prevented us from being able to include the newly self-employed in 19/20 for the previous SEISS grants still remain for the third grant, namely that HMRC will not be able to verify their eligibility, as the 2019/20 returns are not due until the 31 January 2021.”
One driving instructor who has been able to claim money is Jon Beacham. Mr Beacham has been receiving the grant since the first lockdown and has been shielding since then due to a lung condition.
He has had to pass on the majority of his students, so will be starting from scratch when he receives the Covid-19 vaccine and is able to resume work.
Although he receives support, Jon said that it barely covers his costs.
“The grant is not sufficient to keep me going; it works out at roughly £700 a month. It’s hard to keep paying the bills as I’ve not been getting any income,” he said.
“There’s things I have to keep paying for – insurance, my badge was up for renewal last June, so there have been things I’ve had to pay out to keep it running. If I didn’t renew the badge I could lose the licence to instruct.”
Mr Beacham lives alone in a oneroom flat and said he has struggled with being on his own for ten months.
He said that in June he was contacted by a member of Derby City Council informing him that he was eligible for Universal Credit alongside the grants he was receiving from HMRC.
Jon was confused by this and asked if she was sure. He said: “That didn’t seem right to me, but she said it was fine, so I carried on.
“Then I got a call in December to say that I now owe them money because I’ve been claiming a grant and the Universal Credit, so they’ve put me into debt now. I didn’t have any debt before this crisis and now I’m in debt for £1,600.”
When contacted, Derby City Council said they were unable to find Mr Beacham’s case.
All three instructors worry about the pressure increasing on their students, with Mr Beacham saying there is a backlog of learners because of the three lockdowns. Mr Small has 25 students, 19 of whom signed on before March 2020. The average student takes six months before passing their test and Mr Small believes that soon driving instructors will struggle to cope. “I have inquiries coming in now, people coming of age, so I have to warn them I have a full diary of students, but that demand is always going to be made of the driving instructor. “And it’s growing because you are going to lose more and more driving instructors who financially can’t support themselves and they’ll just give up and find another job. That is if they can find another job.”
He said his students are struggling to pick up what they learned after months off and are growing frustrated with tests being cancelled. He said: “I’ve got a young female at Derby University who has had two tests cancelled now.
“I’ve got another one who is a doctor who has had her tests cancelled twice and she was fuming.”