Summary

  • Business correspondents Kevin Peachey and Katie Prescott answered your questions

  • Answers touch on unemployment, housing, jobs and travel

  • Press play on top of page to watch live-streamed answers

  • Send a question on your finances to YourQuestions@bbc.co.uk

  • Close to 1m people in UK applied for benefits in only two weeks

  • Global economy expected to shrink by at least 3% this year

  1. Thank you for followingpublished at 13:12 British Summer Time 1 May 2020

    We’re wrapping up our live coverage now, but you’ll still be able to watch Katie and Kevin answer your questions by clicking the play button above.

    We hope their answers were useful and we’ll be back again to answer more of your money questions in the coming weeks.

    For now, if there’s more you’d like to know, here are our best guides:

  2. What's going to happen to the housing market?published at 13:02 British Summer Time 1 May 2020

    Kevin Peachey
    Personal finance reporter

    What's going to happen to the housing market when the pandemic finishes?

    I'm afraid my crystal ball has smashed. There's no point making forecasts at the moment.

    The number of sales has dropped off a cliff. Lots of sales were cancelled. The peak of that was on 23 March - the day the restrictions on movement were announced.

    What's difficult to tell is if there's a lot less activity, how that translates to prices.

    There are different views from different people - get 10 economists in a room, you'll get 11 answers.

    There are people saying prices will fall, there are others saying because there's so much government support in place it could bounce back quite quickly.

  3. How will the economy open up again?published at 13:01 British Summer Time 1 May 2020

    Towards the end of his answers, Kevin said there is a lot of talk about how the economy might start to emerge out of lockdown.

    Our business editor Simon Jack has more on this on our site today - there's no confirmed date yet for when such a restart will occur.

    The government invited submissions by Thursday from businesses, trade bodies, unions and other workers representatives on how best to slowly restart the UK economy.

    It's not clear yet if workers will be made to strictly observe a two-metre social distancing rule.

    In situations where workers may be required to be closer than two metres, the guidelines may insist on mitigating measures such as wearing protective masks or clothing, or where possible working back-to-back, rather than face-to-face.

  4. Why is small business director pay excluded?published at 12:47 British Summer Time 1 May 2020

    Kevin Peachey
    Personal finance reporter

    Small business director pay as a company dividend has been excluded from the financial support - why? Tom Elliot, Witham, Cambs

    Yes that is the case - it's the decision of the government. They would say it's quite difficult to work out what's your salary and what's other parts of the business.

    This is if you're self-employed and you've set up a limited company, so you're not a sole trader any more, you're a limited company. There have been tax advantages to this in the past. You may pay yourself a salary, you may also pay yourself a bit in dividends. If you take a salary that's the bit you can pay yourself under this self-employed support scheme but if you pay yourself in dividends, that's the bit you can't claim.

    There's been lots of people getting in touch to say that's not fair. There's a big petition about this but at the moment we're not seeing any movement.

    We're not talking just about big businesses here but some really quite small businesses, I've written about painters and decorators in this situation.

    Of course some people would say this is tax-payers' money we're talking about and if you've taken advantage of tax rules in the past, this is it coming back to haunt you now.

  5. Live-stream endspublished at 12:44 British Summer Time 1 May 2020

    Our Q&A has finished, but the full feed will still be available above, and we'll keep pulling together the answers in this part of our live coverage.

    We're going to aim to do more of these sessions focusing on your financial questions, so if you have any questions you would like us to answer, please send them on via this page

  6. Will I be able to get a job after university?published at 12:43 British Summer Time 1 May 2020

    Kevin Peachey
    Personal finance reporter

    What is the likelihood of getting a job after university?

    University students are in the same situation as lots and lots of people trying to work out what to do next. They can fall back on the benefits system if needs be, and some will have jobs already even if they're part time. Maybe there's an opportunity there for some help from their employer.

    A lot of the people worried about jobs are going to be falling back on savings as well if they're there. We know from previous research though that lots of people don't have much in way of savings for a rainy day. This is not a rainy day, this is an absolute downpour for some people's finances.

    Savers have had a rough deal too. They won't get much in the way of interest but their savings are protected.

    If you are really struggling financially, people have been generous. People have been giving money to charities that have been giving grants to people. It's well worth searching for some of those if you're in real financial hardship.

  7. What if my holiday firm has gone into liquidation?published at 12:33 British Summer Time 1 May 2020

    Kevin Peachey
    Personal finance reporter

    I have had a voucher from my holiday firm and they have now gone into liquidation. Where do I stand here? - Linda Jayne

    This is really hard.

    The voucher issue is really interesting - it's come up a lot with flights as well. The concern is, as has happened here, that if the company folds that voucher might not be worth anything. And that is true.

    People are seeking refunds for that very reason.

    Is it actually a voucher? If it is then you might have to go down a different avenue. If you used a credit card to buy the holiday then you can make a complaint and claim it back from the credit card company.

    If you've got a refund credit note then that's different from a voucher. A refund credit note is much more protected - you're much more likely to get your money back even if the company has folded.

  8. What support is there for people on zero hours contracts?published at 12:21 British Summer Time 1 May 2020

    Kevin Peachey
    Personal finance reporter

    What financial assistance is being offered to those with zero hours contracts? - Laura Main, Bristol

    If you are on a zero hours contract you can still be furloughed. You can still be part of this scheme.

    Here's the techy bit - You do need to be on a payroll and you do need to pay tax through PAYE.

    If you're on a zero hours contract with a particular business or a particular employer, or with an agency then you need to go to them and say "don't forget us".

    You can be furloughed in this scheme.

    Not everybody is going to be covered in that scenario, and so they will still have to fall back on the benefits system.

  9. Can I still claim universal credit if I've been furloughed?published at 12:12 British Summer Time 1 May 2020

    Kevin Peachey
    Personal finance reporter

    Can I still claim Universal Credit even though I have been furloughed? - Stephen Ritchie, Barrow-in-Furness

    Universal credit is this all encompassing benefit. What you are paid in universal credit depends on your circumstances.

    If you're on a low income, you can claim universal credit. The amount you receive depends on lots of circumstances like if you have children, and if you've got savings and so on.

    If you've been furloughed that doesn't change. If you're on a low income in furlough or out of furlough, then there is a chance you can still claim universal credit.

    It's very much a scheme based on what's coming in and it's different for different people.

  10. What help can I get if JRS ends?published at 12:08 British Summer Time 1 May 2020

    Kevin Peachey
    Personal finance reporter

    I'm shielding for 12 weeks. What financial support, if any, will be in place to assist me if the JRS (job retention scheme) stops at end of May? - John Martin, Maidstone

    I'm going to start with some good news. The job retention scheme is going to continue until the end of June so that might help you, John, to get you through the isolation period and after that perhaps you might be able to get back into work.

  11. What is furloughing again...?published at 12:06 British Summer Time 1 May 2020

    As Katie just said, it’s not exactly a term we were familiar with months ago: furloughing. But now millions of people around the world, including here in the UK, are depending on the scheme that helps firms pay staff who can’t do their jobs.

    We’ve pulled together this guide to furloughing, include how to apply and what you are and aren’t allowed to do while furloughed.

  12. Our live Q&A beginspublished at 12:02 British Summer Time 1 May 2020

    Our personal finance correspondent Kevin Peachey and business correspondent Katie Prescott are taking your questions on your finance live - just click the play button at the top of this page.

  13. What’s happened to the UK economy?published at 11:51 British Summer Time 1 May 2020

    The impact is already being felt.

    In the two weeks up to 1 April, close to a million people applied for the universal credit benefit and that number will only have risen over the past month.

    Last week, the British Chamber of Commerce said 71% of private firms had furloughed staff - let them go temporarily - since lockdown started.

    The BCC also said that 59% of firms had cash reserves of only three months or less.

    It won’t be clear yet what the full cost of the pandemic will be to the UK economy. Each furloughed worker has been entitled to up to £2,500 a month (which is likely to make up the biggest expense for the government) but the economy will also suffer from a huge drop in VAT and tax revenues.

    Of course, the UK isn’t the only country that’s suffering. It and many others are expected to enter recession this year, and the International Monetary Fund has warned this will be the biggest slump since the Great Depression of the 1930s.

    Expected recession worldwide

    Here’s our guide to how coronavirus has impacted the world’s economy.

  14. Welcome to our live Q&Apublished at 11:43 British Summer Time 1 May 2020

    Since lockdown measures were introduced across the UK on 23 March, almost six weeks ago, all our lives have changed.

    But perhaps one of the most serious side-effects has been to people's finances. Many people have had to figure out, at short notice, how to live with much less money than before. It’s also left plenty of other questions:

    What exactly are your rights as an employee?

    Should you go ahead with buying a house?

    Will you get money back for your holiday?

    Here at BBC News, we’ve received more than 740 questions from you about your finances in the past two days.

    So from 12:00 BST, our personal finance correspondent Kevin Peachey and business correspondent Katie Prescott will answer some of those questions via a live stream (at the top of this page). We hope it helps make things a little clearer.