do they ever back date ESA?

alwayspuzzled

OH had a major op to his spine on dec 1, nhs originally said he must not work for at least 3 months, but much to his disguist keep extending this. He is self employed and applied for ESA, they said he was ineligable for non-means tested as his NI contributions are incomplete and ineligable means tested as I work. However he still had to go for a medical which came back as 0 points despite the consultant + physio + gp stating he must not return to work yet.

The lack of NI contributions was a massive shock as they have always been taken automatically from his SA tax return. Found out we have only been paying class 4 and no class 2. Contacted the NI office who say that the account was closed in error when he was briefly taken on PAYE due to the 13 week subbies rule. They have now calculated the NI due for the last 5yrs and sent a bill.

Once I've managed to pay this do you think there is any chance that the 1st 13 weeks of ESA will be paid. And is it worth contesting the decision at the medical.

TIA any advice much appreciated.

stazi

If HMRC have made a mistake about the Class 2 NIC, then you need to get them to admit this. When the Class 2 NIC has been paid for the tax years 07/08 & 08/09, youi need to get HMRC to treat these years to be "treated as paid on time". Any other tax years don't matter now if they are "late".

There are time limits on when NIC have to be paid, and these years would now normally be treated as "late paid". Late paid NIC are not used by JCP until after 43 days (6 weeks) have passed, and ESA arrears would not be paid.

If your partner appeals against the medical, it would be helpful if he produced new medical information for the JCP Decision Maker, and for the future appeal.