How Covid-19 will affect your finances and some suggestions

While the main concern during the outbreak of Covid-19 is to save as many lives as possible, many consumers are also concerned about the potential impact the virus could have on their personal finances. To help consumers protect their finances against the outbreak, we've taken a look at the potential impacts.

What are you entitled to if your workplace is forced to close?
At the moment, the Government has not made it mandatory for those under 70 or who are not at high risk to remain isolated unless they have symptoms of Covid-19. That said, he hasn't ruled out forcing people to stay at home and so consumers should start preparing for the financial implications if this happens and they can't work from home. What workers will be entitled to receive if they are told not to come to work and cannot work remotely will depend on their employment contract.

Some may receive full pay, but others may require staff to take their annual leave while the workplace is closed. There is also the possibility that the contract allows temporary suspension of employment, in which case employees are usually entitled to guaranteed pay for only five days. The maximum available in the guaranteed pay is £29 per day for five days in any three month period, and if the employee normally earns less than £29 per day they will get their normal daily rate.

What sick pay are you entitled to?
Current government guidelines for those with symptoms of Covid-19 is to stay at home for 14 days together with all other family members. Workers who are forced to take sick days as a result may be paid in full depending on their employment contract. If employees are not eligible to receive full sick pay due to symptoms of Covid-19, then they are entitled to statutory sick pay (SSP), which the Government will pay from the first day the employee is sick. The SSP is £94.25 per week and can be paid for up to 28 weeks.

What if you can't make your mortgage and loan payments?
Several blue-chip banks, including the Royal Bank of Scotland, Lloyds and TSB, have announced they will be offering mortgage and lending holidays to help their customers experiencing financial difficulties due to the impact of the coronavirus outbreak. Covid-19. Therefore, consumers who believe they will have difficulty paying their mortgages and loans due to the pandemic should contact their bank as soon as possible to discuss possible options to ease the financial burden.

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Alternatively, consumers can also contact Citizen Advice for information and advice on what to do if they encounter financial hardship due to the outbreak.

How does Covid-19 affect savings rates?
In an effort to help protect the UK economy from the outbreak of Covid-19, last week the Bank of England unexpectedly cut the base rate by 0.50% (50 basis points) from 0.75% to 0.25%. At the time of writing, there is also the possibility that the base rate could be further reduced.

For savers, this will have a negative impact, as the market is already seeing providers start to cut savings rates in response to the base rate cut. That being said, there are still some attractive savings rates available on the charts at this time, however, as events with the Covid-19 are moving quickly, these rates cannot be guaranteed to hold up for long.