ESA

Hi n31 - as Sam says, you can find very useful information about ESA by following the link above. There are also good resources on the website of Disability Rights UK: https://www.disabilityrightsuk.org/employment-and-support-allowance-overview. The assessment phase normally begins once your claim has been made and your medical certificate has been supplied. If you are 25+ then the assessment phase rate is £73.10 for a single person. The assessment phase is only supposed to last 13 weeks, but in reality it can take a lot longer for the assessments to take place and for a decision to be made. As part of the Work Capability Assessment, you will probably (although not inevitably) have to fill out an ESA50 questionnaire, which is all about how your illness or disability affects you, and go to a face to face assessment. Unless your illness or disability is very severe or exceptional, you will have to score a minimum of 15 points from the range of activities which you will find described in the resources mentioned above. It's really important to think carefully about these points, how you are going to score them, and what evidence you might be able to supply to support your case. If a decision is made that you are not able to work, then you will be put into the work-related activity group or the support group. Please get back to us if you need any further advice as your claim proceeds, but don't forget it's really important to know as much as you can about the way ESA works, as it can get tricky!

Hope this helps.

Jayne