Money saving expert Martin Lewis has told the UK's self-employed not to "panic" amid the coronavirus lockdown.
Speaking on Good Morning Britain today, Mr Lewis offered tips on saving money while the country battles the Covid-19 pandemic, adding that the Government does have a plan.
It comes after Chancellor Rishi Sunak acknowledged that significant challenges lie ahead for the self-employed.
Mr Sunak told MPs that intensive work was under way in Whitehall to design a system to support non-contracted workers and entrepreneurs, but he admitted that it is an “incredibly complicated” task.
Mr Lewis, editor-in-chief of MoneySavingExpert, said on Wednesday that the self-employed should not panic.
He advised them to "look at what has already changed", as the Government rolls out more and more packages to keep the economy going.
"First of all, if you got money put aside for tax, you are allowed to defer your self assessment payment by six months which may give you some cash flow," he said.
Next he spoke of the changes made to employment support allowance, which "is not much but will give you the equivalent, if you are self-employed and ill, to statutory sick pay."
Mr Lewis said that big changes to Universal Credit are worth highlighting.
He admitted that the addition of £20 a month to Universal Credit "is not much".
"But the more important change there is the change to the housing payment in Universal Credit which can apply to private renters and interest on mortgages and other housing payments," he said, "and that has been increased substantially."
He continued: "I have seen some examples of people getting £1,500 a month, which is tax free and is already getting quite close to that employee payment which has been made available."
Mr Lewis said his general assumption is that the Government is trying to keep the economy going and support people through the crisis.
"We have seen it in massive unprecedented moves. It is just being a bit more slow with the self-employed because it is technically more difficult to get there."
Mr Lewis directed people to their full detailed explanation of what is available on MoneySavingExpert.com.
