esa

Jeremy

My wife is on esa 'support group' as she has Multiple Scleroris... I'd like to know if this is means tested as I might have the chance of more work and am not sure if it will need to be reported?
Jeremy

[Deleted User]

Hi @Jeremy,

There are two routes to claiming ESA, there is contributory ESA (i.e non means tested) which is linked to national insurance contributions and the other is means-tested ESA. Do you know which type of ESA your wife is currently claiming?

If it is the contributory ESA and your wife is in the support group this will not be means tested so you will not need to declare the work/additional income. However, if it is income related ESA that your wife is claiming this will need to be reported to the DWP.

If you do have the offer of work, and not sure what impact this might have on the current income for the household it might be worth having a look at the benefit checker that is on our website:

http://www.scope.org.uk/support/disabled-people/benefits/check

Hope this information helps.

Best wishes,

Kirsty

Jeremy

Hi Kirsty,
On the letter it says  my wife is entitled to contribution-based  ESA, (also above it, it says the ESA is based on her N.I.Contribution records)  I do work part-time but have the chance of more over-time..... all this can be very confusing... so will it be non-means tested then?
Jeremy

[Deleted User]

Hello @Jeremy,

Yes we hear from many customers who share the same feeling, that sometimes the benefits system can seem a little unnecessarily difficult to navigate around! Hopefully I can help a little.

If it is the contributory ESA, and your wife is in the support group this means it is non-means tested, so you don't need to worry about your work for this particular benefit. It it was means tested ESA, then yes you would need to declare this.

However, do you claim any other benefits at all as you may need to declare the income (which is why I mentioned doing a benefits check/better off calculation might be helpful).

Hope that helps,

Kirsty

Jeremy

Thank you Kirsty,
My wife gets Disability Living Allowance and we don't claim anything else (hers has not changed over as yet to pip)

[Deleted User]

Hello again @Jeremy,

DLA is none means tested so you don't need to worry about declaring your earnings for your wife's DLA.

Here is a link for you to see which benefits are means tested and which benefits are non-means tested if your ever unsure again in the future:

http://www.rightsnet.org.uk/resources/benefit-tax-credit-rates

Best wishes,

Kirsty