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Can my student daughter claim new style ESA?
April
Member Posts: 99 Courageous
I am so confused. Can someone help me?
My daughter is at college and I was considering helping her to apply for ESA (my other daughter and son received ESA when they were students). But it seems the rules have changed and now disabled students can NOT apply for ESA. Or can they?
There's something called New Style ESA, and some websites say that disabled students can apply for this instead. But, the application form would seem to say otherwise. The form says she must have paid in National Insurance contributions in the past to qualify (she has never had a job, so never paid NI, so it seems she doesn't qualify after all).
But, other websites say that disabled students SHOULD apply for New Style ESA (even though disabled students can't get it!), because they can use the ESA work capability assessment to apply for Universal Credit (which disabled students CAN get, apparently, but they need a work capability assessment to qualify and you can only get that via the New Style ESA application process!!).
But why would they give her a work capability assessment for New Style ESA if she's not entitled to that benefit?? Wouldn't they refuse to do one, leaving my daughter unable to use their assessment for Universal Credit? So confusing!
I know there was a discussion on this somewhere on this board, but I can't find it. I would be so grateful for advice, because a benefits calculator tells me that my daughter is missing out on money! What is a disabled student entitled to claim: New Style ESA, or Universal Credit? Or both? And how does a disabled student get that Work Capability Assessment that seems to be a gateway to benefits?
My daughter is at college and I was considering helping her to apply for ESA (my other daughter and son received ESA when they were students). But it seems the rules have changed and now disabled students can NOT apply for ESA. Or can they?
There's something called New Style ESA, and some websites say that disabled students can apply for this instead. But, the application form would seem to say otherwise. The form says she must have paid in National Insurance contributions in the past to qualify (she has never had a job, so never paid NI, so it seems she doesn't qualify after all).
But, other websites say that disabled students SHOULD apply for New Style ESA (even though disabled students can't get it!), because they can use the ESA work capability assessment to apply for Universal Credit (which disabled students CAN get, apparently, but they need a work capability assessment to qualify and you can only get that via the New Style ESA application process!!).
But why would they give her a work capability assessment for New Style ESA if she's not entitled to that benefit?? Wouldn't they refuse to do one, leaving my daughter unable to use their assessment for Universal Credit? So confusing!
I know there was a discussion on this somewhere on this board, but I can't find it. I would be so grateful for advice, because a benefits calculator tells me that my daughter is missing out on money! What is a disabled student entitled to claim: New Style ESA, or Universal Credit? Or both? And how does a disabled student get that Work Capability Assessment that seems to be a gateway to benefits?
Replies
Please do let us know if we can do anything else @April.
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She would only be applying for it because she needs to get an assessment done in order to claim UC. My concern is that she won't get as far as an assessment. Why would they do an assessment if they can see (from the application form) that she isn't entitled to New Style ESA? If I was them, I would say, "There's no point doing an assessment because you've never worked, so we know from the outset that you won't be entitled to the benefit." Do you see what I think the problem might be? I don't want to fill out a massive application form if she doesn't get offered an assessment at the end of it. On the other hand, it it's standard practice to do assessments on everyone who applies, then we might as well go for it.