Esa

Carrie38

If claiming ESA does this benifit contribute to your state pension credit?

BenefitsTrainingCo

Hi Carrie38,

I'm not sure whether you're asking about national insurance (NI) credits for the state retirement pension or pension credit, so I'll answer both questions!

The answer for NI credits is yes. You get a credit for each week you have 'limited capability for work'  - which you would show by claiming ESA. These NI credits help you to meet the conditions for state retirement pension when you reach state pension age.

For pension credit, just in case that is the question, ESA could count as income for the 'guarantee credit' part of the calculation.  If for example you're on contributory ESA and you live with your partner who is claiming pension credit, then yes the ESA is taken into account as income for pension credit. Pension credit is a benefit for people who've reached state pension age for a woman with the same birthday as them (whether the claimant is a man or a woman), and it can top up income to what is known as 'guarantee credit' levels.

The other part of pension credit is called 'savings credit'. It is being slowly phased out and is for people aged 65 or over. To make a new claim, you (and your partner if you live with a partner) would need to have reached pension age before 6 April 2016.  Savings credit gives you a bit of benefit if you have income over certain levels (but not too much over!) Contributory ESA doesn't count as income for savings credit.

Pension credit can be claimed from the Pension Service and you can also check your entitlement using a benefit calculator.

Do feel free to post back if you have more questions.

Will