ESA

TheLifeofDebbie

Hi There and thankyou for accepting me in the Community.  Wonder if someone can help.  I called my employer and asked how SSP works a week ago as I was not receiving any wage from November.  They sent me a SSP1 form (at the end of November) and it said, I could apply from August, in the mean time I have received half occupational sick pay.  They said, they want me to make the claim and will claw back 8 weeks worth of occupational sick pay, as they had delayed sending me the SSP1 until now due to an admin error on the employers part.  If I have it backdated that far it will effect my Universal Credit in which I pay the rent which is £750 a month plus I get some Universal Credit to support my daughter.  My half pay finished end of October and I don't know if I can just make a claim from November in which I hope they won't be entitled to anything back and my Universal Credit plus Council Tax Rebate will be less effected.  I am long term sick and can really do without the stress.  Thank you in advance for any advice. 

calcotti

Your narrative is a bit confusing. What do you mean by "they want me to make the claim and will claw back 8 weeks worth of occupational sick pay".

You don't have to apply for SSP. Your employer has to pay it is you are eligible. The period of entitlement is 28 weeks and is normally paid from when you start your period of sickness and is paid within any additional occupational sick pay.

To qualify for SSP you need to have been earning £123/week for the couple of months before you became sick (it's a bit more complicated than that but that is the rough requirement).

The SSP1 form confirms that your SSP has ended or that you are not entitled.

If you have a full NI record for 2019-2020 and 2020-21 you can claim new style ESA and you can backdate a claim to start on the day after your SSP ended. However any ESA is deducted from UC so you will be no worse off if you claim both.

I am not clear what your concern with your UC is. Your UC is based on the earnings you receive each month.

TheLifeofDebbie

Hi, It is confusing and a headache I am afraid.  I receive occupational sick pay for 4 months and then a further 4 months half pay occupational sick pay ending on 18th October.  My employer had not made the claim for SSP due to their own admin error.  So when my half pay ran out on the 18th October and I did not receive a letter from my employer on what to do next I called them.  They admitted to the admin error a week ago and sent me a SSP1 form, which stated my 28 weeks SSP was up at the end of August.  They said, I should apply for ESA from the end of August as a backdated claim and they will claw back 8 weeks overpayment from me from 30 August to 18th October when I received half pay Occupational Pay.  Can they do this when it was their fault in the first place?  It will also have a large impact on my other benefits, as applying for 3 months backdated claim for ESA will result in my UC and CTBenefit being stopped. Thank you for advice.  

TheLifeofDebbie

UC is also based on other benefits and income, so if they go up your UC comes down or is cancelled altogether.  If my employer had informed me in August that my SSP was coming to an end and I could apply for ESA back then, my UC would have had a much smoother adjustment without much effect on my overall household incoming funds.

poppy123456

There's no financial gain to claiming New style ESA and UC together. When did you start your claim for UC?

calcotti

If you were already getting in UC then whether or not you claimed ESA makes no difference. Any ESA paid to you would simply have been deducted from your UC. Your overall income would’ve exactly the same.

I don’t understand the issue with your employer. If your contract entitles you to a certain amount of occupational pay and this is what they have paid you there is no overpayment. The SSP makes no difference because the occupational pay and the SSP overlap. If you haven’t done so yet you should your terms of employment re sick pay.