ESA and new claimants

te1

Hi 
I need some advice regarding making a new claim for Esa. I have been unable to work for nearly 6 months now due to many medical problems ie spinal stenosis depression fibromyalgia to name a few and have been in receipt of ssp and recently awarded standard pip for the care component. Does ESA still exist for new claims or is it now universal credit for everyone. I obviously have a limited cabability for work as well. Any advice would be helpful. Thanks 

poppy123456

Hi,

You have posted on the wrong part of the forum as this is for DLA/PIP.

New claims for Income Related ESA are not possible because all areas are now a full Universal Credit area. New style ESA has replaced the old Contributions based ESA but claiming is will depend on your NI Contributions in the previous 2 tax years. The years they look at are March 2016 to April 2018. You can check your NI contributions online at gov.uk. To claim it see this link. https://www.disabilityrightsuk.org/how-claim-esa

You'll need a fit note from your GP and your SSP1 form from your employer to be able to claim this. A fit note from your GP or your PIP award doesn't automatically entitle you to ESA and you will eventually need a work capability assessment to determine your fitness to work, from this they will decide if you have limited capability for work. It's also only paid for 1 year unless you're placed into the Support Group.

If you haven't paid enough NI contributions in those years then UC maybe possible but this will depend on savings/capital and household income because it's a means tested benefit.

If you need to claim for help with your rent then you'll need to claim UC for this because new claims for housing benefit are no longer possible. If you claim New style ESA and UC then your ESA will be deducted £1 for £1 from your UC payments.

Adrian_Scope

Hello @te1, I've moved this over to the ESA section of the community. 

I hope Poppy's response has answered all of your queries but if there's anything else you'd like to know, please don't hesitate to ask.