I am looking to go down the route of hgv as a string to my bow and to possibly leave my sales job and start out in a new job. I’m hearing about all these schemes etc I currently earn £35k and receive no benefits etc am I entitled to any help? Or do I simply contact a local driver training school and pay all the fees? Am I better waiting for the new ruling that is coming in with moving straight to class 1? Any advise appreciated
If you are earning 35k why do you need help? Surely you can pay for it yourself.
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I will do but if there is help I would take it
At the height of the driver shortage I believe the government was offering some form of financial assistance, but that would have only been to unemployed/low income people. Other than that, financial assistance has always been almost impossible to come by.
In all likelihood you will have to pay for it all yourself, in full, before you can begin any training, so either start saving or look at interest free credit cards if you want to jump straight into it.
Having said all that, is there really much point unless you’re desperate for a career change? Assuming you currently work 5 days a week, you would only be able to do 1 days driving work a fortnight, and if you quit your job to drive full time then chances are you’d be on pretty much the same money, but working longer and more unsociable hours for it.
As for waiting until both training courses are combined, no-one knows when that will actually be introduced, so you could be waiting a while.
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The .GOV website is still saying the changes to the HGV test will take place in autumn 2021, but we’ll have to wait and see if that changes at-all.
As for help with the costs I’s say that as you’re on £35,000 you won’t be eligible unless you have a dozen dependant children.
You are probably better off paying for it yourself. I assume there will be some sort of catch. Usually you have to be unemployed for a certain amount of time before they offer any training. Employers usually tie you in for 2 years if they put you through it.
I deleted my original reply, but I’ll say it anyway: the more Government hand-outs we have, the more we pay in taxes. None of this is free. If you can afford to pay for it yourself, do so.
You’ll also have less pressure because if someone else is paying the bill, you will feel you absolutely must pass first time. If an employer is offering to pay, double it (not to mention being tied in for 1+ years with possibly other terms for if you leave early).
Keep it simple, DIY, and take your time to do it right. It’ll be less stressful and will give you options.