What can I claimb

Hi @shazz,

Working out benefit entitlement can be quite tricky. 
Try running the benefits calculator on the Scope website to see if this will give you an idea of your benefit entitlements. http://www.scope.org.uk/support/disabled-people/check-benefits

Are you in receipt of DLA or PIP? If so and you're on the right rate, your partner could claim Carers Allowance for caring for you, providing they fulfil all the other eligibility criteria for the benefit. See more in the following link https://www.gov.uk/carers-allowance/overview.

Is your partner working at the moment and if so how many hours do they work? If you need to talk this through in some more depth, do get in touch with us at the helpline and we can talk you through.

Best wishes
Debbie

Hi @shazz,

How long it takes for ESA to be processed can vary from one part of the country to another. When you make your initial claim, you go into the assessment phase of ESA and should start receiving the basic rate for your age which is £73.10 if you're over the age of 25 and £57.90 if you're under the age of 25. You're not paid anything for the first 7 days, these are known as waiting days.

ESA is paid fortnightly in arrears so hopefully you will receive some money soon. With regards to the assessment dates, these can vary considerably. It might be possible to have an initial paper based assessment to determine whether you will be placed into the WRAG or Support group. It depends on the nature of your condition/s. At some point you probably will need a face to face assessment. The assessment phase is supposed to last for 13 weeks but experience has shown that it can take a lot longer sometimes. Either way you should start to receive the assessment rate of ESA soon if you've qualified.

It might be worth a quick phone call to the ESA contact centre to check the progress of your claim. They will be able to advise you what stage you're at and whether you are due a payment. It can be difficult to get through though and some call charges might apply so do be careful if you're using a mobile phone to make this type of call. The costs can be really high.

Let me know how it goes