Start-up period
64.—(1) A “start-up period” is a period of 12 months and applies from the beginning of the assessment period in which the Department determines that a claimant is in gainful self-employment where—
(a)the claimant has begun to carry on the trade, profession or vocation which is their main employment in the 12 months preceding the beginning of that assessment period, and
(b)the claimant is taking active steps to increase their earnings from that employment to the level of the claimant’s individual threshold (see regulation 89).
(2) No start-up period may apply in relation to a claimant where a start-up period has previously applied in relation to that claimant, whether in relation to the current award or any previous award of universal credit, unless that previous start-up period—
(a)began more than 5 years before the beginning of the assessment period referred to in paragraph (1), and
(b)applied in relation to a different trade, profession or vocation which the claimant has ceased to carry on.
(3) The Department may terminate a start-up period at any time if the person is no longer in gainful self-employment or is no longer taking the steps referred to in paragraph (1)(b).