Benefits self employment

scopeeve

Hey, I posted recently about self employment on ESA and what I would need to do. I'm not sure which category I'm in, I think it's income based as opposed to contribution.
I wonder if anyone can advise, assuming I fall within the hours/income levels stipulated by the dwp, will I still remain on income based or will I switch to something else? Contribution based for example or anything else? Many thanks

Hannah_Alumni

Hello @scopeeve

I'm so sorry no one has answered your query yet.

Unfortunately, I do not know much about self-employment and ESA, but I wanted to comment to check in and see how you are and to also bump your post in the hope someone in the community is able to answer  

poppy123456

Regardless of which ESA you're claiming the permitted work rules apply here. You must make sure you don't earn anymore than £152/week after deductions. If you earn more than this you won't be entitled to ESA for those weeks.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/employment-and-support-allowance-permitted-work-form/permitted-work-factsheet

You need to fill out the PW1 form before starting work. Do be aware also that if the work you do contradicts the reasons why you're claiming ESA then it could go against you the next time you're assessed.

scopeeve

Thanks. My query was related to whether the type of ESA you claim, changes the benefit category you are on. For example income based. Does it change to contribution based. 

scopeeve

@Hannah_Scope thank you. Dwp communications can be triggering for me as my past experiences with them have not been great but I am trying to get the information,process and absorb it with a structured approach. Once I have the facts, I can absorb that and will then take the necessary steps. Difficult ground for me but so far so good. Baby steps. Appreciate you checking on me x

calcotti

scopeeve said:

Thanks. My query was related to whether the type of ESA you claim, changes the benefit category you are on. For example income based. Does it change to contribution based. 

Becoming self employed will make no difference to what type of ESA you are entitled to.

L_Volunteer

I can hear how difficult this is for you at the moment @scopeeve. Is there anything, in particular, that usually helps you to find these sorts of things more manageable?

It sounds really difficult that DWP communications can be triggering for you as your past experiences with them have not been great.

Hope you can get the information, process and absorb it with a structured approach. Is there anything, in particular, that might support you with being able to take this approach?

It sounds really positive that you are aware of how you feel about this but also some things which might help this to be more manageable for you.

Please don’t hesitate to let us know if we can do anything to support you. We are all here for you and listening to you 

scopeeve

@L_Volunteer
Thank you. Usually ensuring that I know what to expect and have things straight in my mind. Im usually triggered when things come out of the blue or there is a situation out of my control, I find it harder. It's difficult because I invest so much in the process, that if it doesn't go as I expected it to, it triggers an episode. Anhilation anxiety I think was mentioned. I've had counselling and it was helpful but obviously old habits die hard and understanding triggers, doesn't mean your behavioural patterns immediately change, so it is a very difficult road to navigate and can be overwhelming. X

darinfan

scopeeve said:

@L_Volunteer
Thank you. Usually ensuring that I know what to expect and have things straight in my mind. Im usually triggered when things come out of the blue or there is a situation out of my control, I find it harder. It's difficult because I invest so much in the process, that if it doesn't go as I expected it to, it triggers an episode. Anhilation anxiety I think was mentioned. I've had counselling and it was helpful but obviously old habits die hard and understanding triggers, doesn't mean your behavioural patterns immediately change, so it is a very difficult road to navigate and can be overwhelming. X

I'm so with you on that.  It's exactly the same with my bipolar - I'm fine if I know all the facts, then I can deal with them.  But the "unknown" factors are always a trigger, as are the unexpected "bumps in the road."  The DWP guidance always seems to tell you a certain amount, and then stops, leaving out the important bit to us, which is "what does this mean in practice!"

L_Volunteer

You are welcome @scopeeve. It is the very least you deserve. It sounds really positive that you know what does and doesn’t help you.

Though, I can hear how this, mixed with counselling, doesn’t necessarily lead to immediate change. Therefore, it is a very difficult road to navigate and can be overwhelming.

This is more a reflection of the difficult situation than you as a person. Please don’t hesitate to let us know if we can do anything to make it less difficult or overwhelming. We are all here for you and listening to you.

 Take care for now and we will look forward to, hopefully, hearing from you again soon 

L_Volunteer

It sounds difficult that you experience something similar @darinfan. Thank you for sharing your experiences though, I am sure this will be invaluable.

I can hear how more information within the DWP guidance might be helpful. Is there anything else, in particular, that usually helps this to be more manageable for you? 

darinfan

L_Volunteer said:

It sounds difficult that you experience something similar @darinfan. Thank you for sharing your experiences though, I am sure this will be invaluable.

I can hear how more information within the DWP guidance might be helpful. Is there anything else, in particular, that usually helps this to be more manageable for you? 

To be honest, I just try to avoid those "bump in the road" situations, both within the DWP and elsewhere, too.  The problem is that there is no-one at the DWP to sound ideas off, or to talk through options.  For example, with regards to the permitted work and ESA, you can't ring them up and say "what would happen if I did this?" You have to actually do it first before they'll give you the answer!  The people on the phones aren't the decision makers, and seem under-trained and don't seem to have much knowledge that can relied upon to be true. So you can't ask them for advice.  From what I've gathered, UC seems to be better managed in this way, and there is more opportunity for advice and contact (sorry if I've got that wrong), but people on ESA seem to have been hung out to dry in that regard, especially with regards to info on permitted work or changes that might affect benefits.

scopeeve

@L_Volunteer thank you. X
@darinfan absolutely the case. The support is just not there. Think I've probably found out as much as I can now so will start putting something together and go from there

calcotti

darinfan said:.. From what I've gathered, UC seems to be better managed in this way, and there is more opportunity for advice ..

If only!

darinfan

calcotti said:

darinfan said:.. From what I've gathered, UC seems to be better managed in this way, and there is more opportunity for advice ..

If only!

Oops.  Sorry!  Appearances can be deceiving!

darinfan

scopeeve said:

@L_Volunteer thank you. X
@darinfan absolutely the case. The support is just not there. Think I've probably found out as much as I can now so will start putting something together and go from there

Mine went in the post today.  So good luck, and here's hoping things work out for the both of us, and we get (for once) a brown envelope from DWP with good news to launch the new year.

darinfan

Sent my form yesterday special delivery.  Apparently lost in transit according to royal mail.  Not a good omen!  I'm assuming they left the back door of the van open.  It's quite impressive they lost it within a day!

poppy123456

It's pointless sending anything to DWP with special delivery/next day delivery because it doesn't mean it arrives with DWP the following day. All it means is that it's somewhere in the building of the sorting office and it will have been signed for by someone from RM.

Best thing to do is to take the form to your local Job centre and they will send it for you. Make sure you have a receipt for what you've given them.

darinfan

poppy123456 said:

It's pointless sending anything to DWP with special delivery/next day delivery because it doesn't mean it arrives with DWP the following day. All it means is that it's somewhere in the building of the sorting office and it will have been signed for by someone from RM.

Best thing to do is to take the form to your local Job centre and they will send it for you. Make sure you have a receipt for what you've given them.

It says specifically on the form not to take it to the job centre.  The DWP haven't lost it, Royal Mail have - before it even left my own city.  As long as I have a signature for it, there's proof that I sent the form in, and then there's no comeback on me if they say they don;t have it.  

janer1967

Hi there 

Just wanted to point out the dwp are not really there to give benefit advice they are there to administer benefits 


I agree their knowledge of their own systems and process could be much improved but they are calk centre staff working from set scripts 

Advice should be sought from advice agencies like cab and welfare rights 

scopeeve

Hi there
Thank you for your comments. I need to point out, that dwp discussions are triggering for me. I realise this might read as a rude comment via written word and I can assure you it is not meant in such a way. I followed advices from Scope to speak to the community, surrounding my query, as to what information the dwp might ask for, so I can manage my expectations. It has some how turned into a discussion about what the dwp position is and other flaws in their system. I simply just wanted to know more about the process, so I knew what to expect. As I said, dwp discussions are triggering for me, so if I am able, I will now try to turn the comments off. Thank you to all who offered advice regarding my query. @L_Volunteer is it possible to switch off comments or delete posts? Could you point me in the right direction please? Many thanks