I'm self employed, and work around 5 hours a week. Can I claim ESA?

Annette1356

Hi, I hope you're all having a good day. I have a question. I am in the process of applying for PIP, which I should get, because I have arthritis and Adult Attention Deficit Disorder, I am also self employed, although I now only work about 5 hours a week since covid hit. Can I also claim ESA?
Thanks for your help,
Annette

poppy123456

The only ESA that's possible to claim now is New style ESA. Whether you can claim this will depend on your NI contributions in tax years April 2018 to March 2020. If you haven't paid the correct amount you won't be able to claim it. You will need a fit note to claim this.

Universal Credit has replaced all the old benefits but claiming this will depend on your circumstances. If you live with a partner you claim as a couple. If you claim tax credits, then a claim for UC will end this. If you have savings/capital of more than £16,000 you're excluded from claiming. You can use a benefits calculator to check entitlement. https://www.entitledto.co.uk/benefits-calculator/Intro/Home?cid=88af489b-ba9a-49fa-a1af-79ebb9295aba

If you claim UC then you should report your health condition and send in fit notes from your GP.

If you claim both of these together the ESA will be deducted in full from any UC entitlement.

Annette1356

Thank you for the information. I am a carer, so my NI contributions are covered and I don't claim UC even though I probably should, instead I have working tax credits, carer's allowance and a small amount of earnings. No savings as the government saw fit to nick 6 years of my pension, which equates to £48,000.

calcotti

The NI credits you receive from Carer’s Allowance (CA) will not on their own be sufficient to claim ESA. However, because you receive CA, ESA can look at your work history prior to claiming CA and provided you have paid NI contributions, or been treated as having paid contributions, at sometime you should qualify for new style ESA. You would need a Fit Note from your GP stating that you have a health condition limiting your ability to work.

However CA and ESA are overlapping benefits which means that if you claim ESA you will no longer be paid CA (although you will retain an underlying entitlement to it). The ESA is worth more than CA so you may want to do this.

Annette1356 said:..I don't claim UC even though I probably should, 

Claiming UC would end your Tax Credits so there is no ‘probably should’ about it. You might or might not be better off on UC. You would need to do a comparison calculation to know.

Annette1356 said: No savings as the government saw fit to nick 6 years of my pension, which equates to £48,000.

Didn’t understand this bit.

Annette1356

Hi Calcotti, I'm now 65 and because successive governments since 1995 have been playing about with the pension rules and not given any personal notice of such, most 50's women are now out of pocket by at least £40,000 and that would have been enough to pay off my mortgage. As things stand, in 6 years I will have to sell my house as I am too old to get another mortgage and so I lose my home. Then of course I will also lose several benefits because I will have money in the bank and no way to buy another property.
Another question: If I spend the money I gain from selling my home ( I have several debts to pay, amounting to about £23,000) will the DWP assume I should still have that money and calculate my benefits accordingly?
Thanks for all your help, you've been very informative
Annette

poppy123456

When you sell your home you will be of state pension age. State Pension isn't means tested and neither is PIP. Pension credit is means tested, (if you're entitled and not everyone is) There is no maximum limit to savings, for every £500 you have over £10,000 means tested benefits will reduce by £1. Council tax reduction is also means tested but all local Authorities have their own rules.

calcotti

Annette1356 said:

Hi Calcotti, I'm now 65 and because successive governments since 1995 have been playing about with the pension rules and not given any personal notice of such, most 50's women are now out of pocket by at least £40,000 and that would have been enough to pay off my mortgage. 

Understand - I did wonder if you fell into that group but it wasn't clear from your original post. The knock on effects to those who planned responsibly is very unfair. Changing the rules is one thong which the government is clearly entitled to do, not advertising them adequately is another matter altogether.

Although, unlike UX, paying off debt is not specifically identified as acceptable when assessing Pension Credit I think it unlikely that paying off debt would be seen as deprivation of capital in the circumstances, but it will fall to a Decision Maker to decide.

poppy123456 said: Council tax reduction is also means tested but all local Authorities have their own rules. 

The rules for pension age claimants of CTR are not set by local authorities, they follow national rules. If capital is over £16,000 OP will be excluded from CTR unless they are entitled to some Pension Credit in which case they will get full CTR.