Do you have to keep submitting ESA Sick notes until you get a decision?

treenz

Do you have to keep submitting sick notes for ESA until you get a decision back? 

Been receiving payments for a few weeks and sent back the ESA50 form last week but heard it can be up to 3 months wait… 
Having to call the doctors to get a sick note is making my anxiety awful & they wont issue a note without speaking to patient. Will I still need to submit while I wait? 

Also - dont really understand the point of ESA when on UC as full amount gets deducted from UC anyway?? 

janer1967

Hi 

Yes you do need to keep submitting fit notes 

Also the wait will no doubt be a lot longer than 3 months currently around 6 months or more 

You can only get paid one benefit which is why esa is deducted 

The advantage is esa is paid every 2 weeks rather than monthly and esa if contribution based isn't means test6like uc 

treenz

Thanks for the response!

calcotti

janer1967 said:

You can only get paid one benefit which is why esa is deducted 

I know what you have written isn’t what you meant!

You can be paid both ESA and UC but you don’t get more money as a result.

Treenz, as janer says ESA is not means tested so there are people who can claim ESA but would not be able to claim UC. On ESA you get Class 1 NI credits whereas on UC you only get Class 3.

A disadvantage of ESA though is that, unlike UC, it is taxable income so will increase your tax liability for the tax year if your total taxable income exceeds your tax free allowance.

As janer says you must provide continuous Fit Notes until such time as a decision has been made in respect of your Capability for Work.

janer1967

@calcotti

I didn't explain it very well dis I 

Thanks for your better explanation