ESA appointment

disneyprincess

Hello, 

I had a phone call appointment today from my job centre who said the call was about my esa application. 

She said because I already get uc and get lcwra then I “bypass” a lot of the waiting period and she was going to tell esa i had agreed to the claimant commitment and to progress my claim.

does this mean i should receive a payment soon? I asked for it to be backdated to 23 Feb. 

I’m worried a back payment will be taken off my UC in one go too

poppy123456

Although you've been found to have LCWRA for UC, you will still have to wait 13 weeks for the extra money to paid for your ESA Support Group, which is known as assessment phase. The Support Group amount will then be paid from the 14th week of your claim. 

As you were claiming UC at that time then you will have an overpayment of UC, which can be repaid back from future UC payments. They will need to recalculate your past statements first so they can work out how much you received and how much you should have received when they take of the ESA in full. 

It can be a few weeks before you receive any money from ESA. Your weekly amount to start with will be £84.80. From 8th April that amount will increase to £90.50/week. Support Group amount will be £138.20/week. 

disneyprincess

Thank you. The lady I spoke to was sure I didn’t need to wait the 14 weeks on the lower rate and told me I would receive the higher rate straight away 

poppy123456

You still have to wait. Your overall benefits entitlement will remain the same anyway because the ESA is deducted in full from any UC entitlement.