Esa support long term i tried ft work failed 3weeks

wanderinggoose

Hi , long term on esa support autism adhd late diagnosed ,felt I needed to get out of the house and returned to my old ft job after 8yrs ,but 3 weeks later the signs were showing and so I called esa about the 12week fast track whixh they assured me would be available so okay to try working.

Was told No not exactly because you went full time ,so its now day 9 after the call to esa no paper work ,but uc have been made aware and ive clicked i have been on esa less than 12weeks ago.. submitted fitnote to esa via their link .. but advisor has said they will send esa50 and my old assors sheet to help.. have I been incorrectly informed 🤔 id be misinformed at the 12week its seems but so wanted to try again and now its worse than before with not knowing ? Any advise please should I call back or just wait ,roughly at week 5 of the 12week window ,masking to my wife that im okay but really worried its added stress 😩 ,50 autism & adhd

Rachel_Scope

Hi @wanderinggoose, I'm so sorry that you're feeling so stressed about all of this. Do you have any support?

I've found some information here: https://www.maggies.org/about-us/blog/easing-back-into-work/ . It states that:

"If you need to go back on to ESA within 12 weeks, your claim will be linked to the old one. This means any Contributory ESA will draw on the same National Insurance contributions as your last claim.

You will also return to ESA - Contributory or Income-related - at the rate of ESA you were on. The DWP may consider if your health has changed and whether you need to be re-assessed, but the old rate would continue until any such new assessment was completed.

If you carry on in work beyond 12 weeks, then it will be a completely new ESA claim."

I can't find anything that discussed how full-time work affects it. I'm not a trained benefits advisor so I'd recommend calling them back to discuss it. Sorry I can't be any more help. Hopefully one of our members may have experience of this.

wanderinggoose

Hi Rachel,

That's exactly how I did it via social prescriber once a week ,then 6 weeks over xmas at college 2 days a week ,then tried my old job where my diagnosis was discovered 2017 I felt like id never left ,but this wasn't sustainable so had to resign and agreed by esa new claim line

So first I was told no go online so I did and it does indeed ask if you have claimed esa in the last 12weeks which was 3 weeks ago I left 26th jan esa

Once completed and sent fitnote

I then telephoned and explained what I was told when signing off esa support on the 26th and she told me then about the rapid reclaim before 12weeks,

So far everyone has said at. Esa we stopped that late 2025 and was told an esa50 is coming but one agent did offer to send my assessors sheet so I could copy it over I accepted but neither have arrived and tomorrow is two weeks or 10working days

But still nope the 12week rule has ended and one said it didnt support fulltime anyway ,very confusing at esa. Last time i claimed I needed a letter from my specialist doctor requesting I be placed in the support group to allow volunteer so just hoping its all a technicality as they have said they can see my file ..

EExtremely Long morning that was and completely overwhelmed me which is quite useful to have as an understanding of how I get overwhelmed by communication