Esa declined

netbet67

Hi, l hope someone can help me. I've been of sick from work for more than 6 months and sick pay has been stopped. I applied for esa   and received a letter today saying it had been de lined due to the pension l am receiving. I left work on ill health retirement.

I thought esa wasn't income related?? Is there still the 2 types or is it now universal credit?

Please help as I'm very confused and getting mixed info on the internet.

poppy123456

Hi,

There used to be 2 types of ESA, Income related and Contributions based. Contributions based is where you've paid enough NI contributions in the 2 years previous to your claim. Pensions over £85 per week affect the amount you can claim.

Income related is means tested and household income, savings, capital, pensions etc affect this.

Pippa_Alumni

Welcome to the community, @netbet67! I hope the above guidance from Poppy is helpful, and do feel free to come back to us with any further questions.

netbet67

Thank you.very helpful.

What is the new style esa?

If l claim the contributions based esa , what is the maximum pension l can receive before it stops esa completely ?

poppy123456

New style ESA is for those that have paid enough NI contributions in the previous 2 tax years. It's replaced Contributions based, same thing, different name.

For pension over £85 per week your ESA is reduced by half this amount. So for every £1 over the £85 the ESA is reduced by 50p. New style ESA is £73.10 per week, assessment rate. I'm afraid i have no idea what maximum pension would be to reduce the ESA to zero. A benefits calculator may help.