ESA Appeal win

libbya

I had to attend a trubunial on 13/10 to fight my case the against DWP decision that I am fit for work. I won my appeal, that i am deemed NOT fit for work based on the paperwork alone and that I would only be in the work related group. Great though that was, I was on Contribution based ESA and my allowed year ends on 22/10. I only qualify for Cont based ESA & JSA as my hubby works full time and I have a couple of small pensions.
I am nearly 61 yrs of age.
My question is if the tribunial confirmed I am NOT fit to work, can I now put in another claim for Cont based ESA

Pippa_Alumni

Hi @libbya, I've moved your post to the Ask A Benefits Advisor category where they'll hopefully be able to answer your question!

libbya

Thanks Pippa x

ClydeBuilt

I 'passed' PIP and ESA, then was contacted re another ESA test.
My GP's support took care of that and I was then told my ESA was no longer requiring a check.

Apparently Im in a 'suppport group' now, but have no need for work based activities....I'de be happy with four straight breaths in a row!

BenefitsTrainingCo

libbya,

Unfortunately, if you are in the work-related activity group, you usually can't have any more contribution-based ESA after your year ends. One exception would be if you have a different tax year of national insurance contributions or credits which you can use to qualify. If you have a break in your ESA payments of at least 12 weeks, this rule is worth looking at. 

For example, if you claimed in 2016, the tax years that would have applied were 2013/14 and 2014/15. But if this time, you claim in 2018 (which you will need to, to make sure you have at least a 12 week gap), then you can use the tax years 2015/16 and 2016/17 (both different tax years as you can see). If you worked in 2015/16, paying NI, and then had one year of NI credits in 16/17 (or part work, part credits), you could potentially qualify again.

You get a credit for limited capability for work, so quite a few people do find they are entitled to another year of cont ESA if they were working and paying Class 1 national insurance immediately before the first claim.

If you were to get worse, and qualify for the support group, you can revive your cont ESA. To do this you need to remain assessed as having limited capability for work and get national insurance credits for this, even though you do not get ESA. You need to apply to the DWP for the credits. I'd recommend doing this anyway, both in case you get worse, and to protect your national insurance record for your retirement pension. 

Another option is to appeal further against the tribunal decision if you think you should be in the support group, but you can only do this on an 'error of law' and it isn't easy to do without some locally based professional advice.

You should get arrears of your cont ESA now you have won your tribunal. You may find the cont ESA is slightly reduced because you have pension payments, but this should only apply if the pension payments are worth more than £85 a week.

Will