ESA ENTITLEMENT

Cats1817
Cats1817 Online Community Member Posts: 21 Connected
edited December 2025 in Employment & Support Allowance (ESA)

Posting for a friend.

They have recently applied to NS ESA (not entitled to UC). They have worked via PAYE employment for over 40 years so have more than enough NI contributions. However they got made redundant in 23/24 tax year, so thats not a full NI year. NS ESA believed to use 22/23 & 23/24 tax years atm for entitlement. Are they able to top this year up and then be entitled or can NS ESA use previous years instead? Be a shame to not be entitled just because they are missing one year but worked full time for over 40 years!

Thanks.

Comments

  • Rachel_Scope
    Rachel_Scope Posts: 3,031 Scope Online Community Coordinator

    Hi @Cats1817, sorry no-one was able to answer your question. Did you find the answer? I found some information about NI Credits that could possibly help.

  • Cats1817
    Cats1817 Online Community Member Posts: 21 Connected
    https://forum.scope.org.uk/discussion/comment/1093028#Comment_1093028

    hi Rachel,


    Unfortunately still no further forward. ESA helpline are not helpful either as they don’t know.

    Can anyone confirm whether NS ESA is able to use 2 out of the 3 tax years rather than the last 2 tax years for entitlement?

    Thank you.

  • OverlyAnxious
    OverlyAnxious Online Community Member Posts: 5,758 Championing
    https://forum.scope.org.uk/discussion/comment/1102509#Comment_1102509

    Hi,

    Unfortunately the answer is no. The entitlement criteria is 'fixed' to the previous 2 full years of NI contributions from working. They can't be substituted for an earlier year.

    It is unfortunate that your friend is in this position. They should have applied for NS ESA as soon as they were made redundant, but I appreciate it is too late for that now.

    Is the reason they are unable to claim UC due to savings? If so, do you know roughly how much savings they've got? Once that drops below £16k, they can apply for UC, unless there is another reason that they are not entitled.

  • Cats1817
    Cats1817 Online Community Member Posts: 21 Connected
    https://forum.scope.org.uk/discussion/comment/1102515#Comment_1102515

    Thanks for replying.

    There seems to be confusion around these “qualifying years” as another ESA person confirm could use 2 out 3 years. Also states this directly on the scope website!

    They wouldn’t of been eligible for NS ESA straight away as they were not disabled then. But thank you for your advice.

  • OverlyAnxious
    OverlyAnxious Online Community Member Posts: 5,758 Championing
    edited February 18
    https://forum.scope.org.uk/discussion/comment/1102640#Comment_1102640

    Hmm, that is very interesting.

    I've just checked the Scope page and I think that maybe a typo. I think it should say 2 full tax years out of the past 3 calendar years.

    But if someone from ESA also confirmed it then perhaps not!

    Please do update this thread if you get any hard evidence to prove one way or another.

  • flour
    flour Online Community Member Posts: 114 Empowering
    edited February 20

    @Cats1817 If you can backfill the gaps in the second year then you may have a chance.

    https://www.gov.uk/national-insurance-credits/eligibility

    It would need to be the correct class of NICS. To meet the first and second contribution conditions:

    https://www.entitledto.co.uk/help/employment-and-support-allowance-contribution-based

    Has your friend already made a claim for New Style ESA? If so, then depending on what happens with his record as you work through it you may find that ESA automatically review their refusal decision when HMRC update the NIC record as this feeds through to ESA automatically.

    Further, you'll be aware of this if the claim is still active and getting NICS for LCW by way of getting letters from ESA. If for any reason you've abandoned the claim but not communicated that to ESA you may find that submitting a late fit note for the required period may be enough to keep the claim live until you find out if you can resolve the second year.

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