ESA credits only claim

hellsbells22

Hi, I'm new on here so hopefully someone can help me out. I have been on a credits only claim since 2018 as I was only ever working a few hours a week and didn't pay NI. They said as I didn't pay any, I can't get any money from them but do qualify and can have credits to help me in the future with pension etc. My question is, now that they have been paying my NI credits for 6 years as class 1, do I now qualify to get any money as my ESA claim? Can't seem to find the answer anywhere online. Thank you so much x

poppy123456

Unfortunately the NI credits from your ESA is not enough to be entitled to payments. You will still need to have worked at some point in the previous 2 tax years, if you haven't you will not qualify.

Have you used a benefits calculator to check entitlement to Universal Credit? If you haven't then please do that. If you live with a partner you'll need to put their details into it too because you'll need to claim as a couple.

https://www.entitledto.co.uk/benefits-calculator/

hellsbells22

Thanks for your reply. I have worked but only 5 hours a week so I guess it was irrelevant. I read online that the class 1 credits they pay 'will help you in the future to claim payments.' What do they mean by this? It's all so confusing :(

poppy123456

5 hours per week isn’t enough to qualify you.

There’s 2 qualifying conditions that you must meet to qualify for payments. You would qualify for the 2nd condition but not the first one. You can see the qualifying conditions here https://www.entitledto.co.uk/help/employment-and-support-allowance-contribution-based#:~:text=Contributory%20Employment%20and%20Support%20Allowance,style%20Employment%20and%20Support%20Allowance'.

Jimm_Scope

Hello @hellsbells22, welcome to the community 😊 I hope Poppy has helped answer some of your questions. It really can be confusing, with so many different benefits and different criteria.

How are you doing if it's alright to ask?

hellsbells22

Thank you Jim for asking. She was very helpful! Unfortunately I can't get anything more but at least I know not to waste my time applying etc so I appreciate that. Thank you x

poppy123456

wrong thread…

Jimm_Scope

Given they don't have another thread to ask how they were doing I figured it would be okay to quickly ask here even if it isn't ESA related.

hellsbells22

thanks for asking 👍🏻