contribution conditions for award of ESA c new style

weehonza

Hi  I was self employed and recently had to claim ESA(C) new style I had been in receipt of Working tax disabled credits.  I claimed ESA(C) and was advised I was entitled to credits only.  I then contacted HMRC to try and back pay contributions and they advised me my credits were all up to date (I have Class 2 disabled credits) and they could not accept a payment and that ESA should be paying me.  Does anyone know who is right or wrong here as each department is saying the opposite??  Many thanks in advance 

poppy123456

I'm not sure what you mean by "class 2 disabled credits" For a claim now you would need class 2 NI contributions in tax years 2021/22 and 2022/23. Which years did they refuse you for?

weehonza

HMRC are saying my contributions are fully up to date as in the two tax years I was entitled to the disability element of working tax credits and this should satisfy the alternative conditions for the award of ESA (C) unfortunately noone including ESA themselves seem to be aware of this and it seems to be a very rare case.  So ESA are saying im not entitled and HMRC are saying I should be and therefore wont take a back payment of contributions

poppy123456

It should be class 1 that you receive and not class 2, which is why I was confused. 

You are correct that this situation is rare and because of this I wouldn’t want to give incorrect information. You need to get some expert advice from an agency near you. This will help with that https://advicelocal.uk/welfare-benefits

weehonza

Thanks Poppy unfortunately I went to the local advice centre from your link today and they knew nothing about it either as its so rare.  It was class 2 as i was previously self employed.