ESA Support Group

bg844

Hi everyone,

Last year in August I claimed ESA and had an assessment but unfortunately got a letter saying they didn't have enough information and that I'd have to do the assessment again. The ESA kept going for 365 days but I got NI CREDITS ONLY as I didn't have enough credits due to something that happened last year. In May I got a letter saying this 365 credits only period has now passed and my claim closed. Fast forward to July, I got an appointment letter through for today and I have just completed my assessment with a nurse who at the end of a 25 minute call, said she was putting a recommendation for 'Support Group' because in her words 'Your day to day life is significantly restricted'. I am of course grateful for this and she was a lovely woman. Please could someone advise what will happen seeing as it's apparently a closed claim?

I only claim PIP Enhanced and nothing else as I have over £16k saved which I have been living on. Will it be the case that after the 2 years of Class 1 credits had been paid I will start to get ESA payment? 

I'm so sorry for the long post and questions I just really don't know what's going on with this situation and having an assessment today has frightened me even more.

poppy123456

Hi,

The person that did your assessment should not have told you anything about any group that you maybe placed into. It's not their job to that and only a decision maker can make the decision. The HCP will write a report and return it to DWP with a recommendation. A decision maker will then look at that and all other evidence and then a decision will be made.

I'm not sure why your ESA claim closed because it was a credits only claim so it should have remained as this until a decision's been made on your work capability assessment.

A credits only claim can never revert to a payment claim and it will always remain just a credits only claim.

Once your savings go below £16,000 you should look at claiming Universal Credit. There will be a reduction of £4.35 per month for every £250 over £6,000.

calcotti

bg844 said:

Will it be the case that after the 2 years of Class 1 credits had been paid I will start to get ESA payment? 

You cannot qualify for new style ESA based on Credits only. You need to have 26 weeks of contributions in one of the two tax years taken into account. 

bg844

Hi again. 

I have had no letter or anything about that assessment, should I call ESA? I was looking on my HMRC Government Gateway and it stated that I had a previous employment for ESA ( I understand it says this because it's taxable) and I was paid £0 and that employment ended on the 26th April this year. I am confused with this because apparently if I was to claim Universal Credit then if I was placed in the New-Style Support Group then I should get LCWRA on it with an extra bit of money. I don't even know why they bothered to ask me to do another phone assessment if that was the case but surely I should get to at least read what the assessor said in her report if I asked for it. 

I'm so sorry for asking again, I just find this system very confusing.

Billy.

poppy123456

You can ring DWP to ask if a decision's been made on the work capability assessment. If you've been assessed as having LCW or LCWRA then you can claim NI credits from the ESA based on LCW.

UC is a means tested benefit and is based on circumstances such as savings. IN a previous comment you said this..

bg844 said:

I only claim PIP Enhanced and nothing else as I have over £16k saved which I have been living on.

If your savings are still above £16,000 then you won't be able to claim UC because you're excluded with savings above £16,000.