Lifetise launches app to assist self-employed with finance support amid COVID-19

Written by Sharon Kimathi
24th April 2020

UK-based fintech Lifetise, has launched an app that shows people the best course of action to take based on their individual circumstances if they’re self-employed or freelance, and quickly determine the government support options available to them.

The launch of the web app follows Lifetise’s campaign to offer information resources to help the public manage the pandemic induced financial pressures on households.

Lifetise co-founder Nick Wasmuth adds: “The government’s Coronavirus Self-employment Income Support Scheme was developed to cover 95% of the UK’s self-employed. The web app and action plan has been created for freelancers and the self-employed to explore their options and presents the action plan back to them in easy to follow step-by-step instructions”.

It quickly determines the government support options available to them.

The app joins an expanding repository of webinars, guides and articles that cover job loss, reduced salary, debt management and mortgage and rent concerns. Through a series of simple questions, the web app allows a self-employed worker to readily determine their eligibility for the various government schemes that have been recently announced. Then creates a personalised action plan to help users understand their next steps.

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“There are over 5 million self-employed people in the UK, representing 15% of the UK workforce. Having spoken to many freelancers and small business owners over the past few weeks, they struggled to apply the government’s initiatives to their own individual situations,” says Lifetise CEO Caroline Hughes.

“It was information overload. We decided to create something that quickly showed self-employed people what financial support they could get and how to apply for it, in plain English, removing the stress and uncertainty for people.”

This initiative follows the announcement of government schemes that were initially criticised for heavily favouring businesses and their employees over the self-employed section of the UK workforce.