Employment & Support Allowance query

Mistyang

Hi
I lost my job on 23rd March. Due to stress I have been awarded ESA although I am confused as it says it is contribution and income related

I can understand that the first few days of my ESA would be contribution based however once I have no income from work coming in then does my ESA become income related only. I really cannot get to grips with this and looking on the government benefit sites does not give a clear explanation.

When I rang the Benefits Office I was told it was income related.

I have stopped working to care for my hubby and applied for carers too. I received a letter from them on Saturday saying I have an underlying carers allowance although they could not pay me the benefit as I was receiving ESA contribution based.

Now I am confused so I hope you can understand my question!

Therefore if the benefits office are telling me my ESA is income related surely I am entitled to be paid the carers allowance.

Please help... thanks

jen_br

Can you just clairfy... you are on ESA for sickness and now also being a carer?

Indie_Kid

ESA & CA are overlapping benefits - hence "underlying entitlement".

Mistyang

Yes I am on ESA and am a Carer for my husband. I have been caring for my husband for 3 years even while I was working and his deteriorating condition means he now needs care continuously. I am entitled to ESA for myself yes however had I not had my own health problems I dare say I would be on Income Support as opposed to ESA. However the question I posed was not about my entitlement to benefits but the difference between Contributory based and Income Related ESA. My benefits have now answered this question for me this morning.

Mistyang

jen_br wrote: »

Can you just clairfy... you are on ESA for sickness and now also being a carer?

yes and your point is?

suelees1

jen_br wrote: »

Can you just clairfy... you are on ESA for sickness and now also being a carer?

People can claim CA as well as ESA. FYI they can also claim CA if they're on the hightest rates of DLA

Can't give you the info without knowing if your husband has an income or if you have savings in excess of £6K Mistyang

Mistyang

suelees1 wrote: »

People can claim CA as well as ESA. FYI they can also claim CA if they're on the hightest rates of DLA

Can't give you the info without knowing if your husband has an income or if you have savings in excess of £6K Mistyang

thank you Suelees.

My husband is on long term Incapacity Benefit and DLA mobility and care component. We do not have savings in excess of £6K.

dmg24

How much ESA have you been awarded? How much IB does your husband receive, and what rates of DLA does he receive? Have you worked continuously over the past few years?

It makes it more complicated because you are both in receipt of different incapacity related benefits, but your total eligible amount should be the same.

suelees1

I've always got concerns about claiming ESA if you can claim IS instead because you don't get a disability premium with ESA.

You could withdraw your ESA claim and claim IS as a carer (you would get both the carers and disability premiums)

Your husband can claim IS for you both as well as his IB and get the same premiums

If you continue to claim ESA you might get one of the additional components (work related or support component) but only IF you get 15 points when you're assessed at around 13 weeks after you first claim but it's hard to get these amount of points. In any case any additional component would be less than the couple's rate of the disability premium.

My advice would be to have a 'better off' calculation done to see what's best for you as a family. Following on from DMG24s answer all income details are needed to work this out

AsknAnswer2

Contribution based benefits are calculated on the amount of NI contributions you have paid in previous "the qualifying" years. Contribution based benefits have nothing to do with the amount of income you currently have; that is income based benefit.

When applying for ESA, you are assessed for both compnents. However if the contributory applicable amount is the same or is higher than the income based applicable amount, you only receive the conts.

NASA should be able to explain this in more simple terms than I can.

suelees1

I think you explained the differences between them clearlyl AsknAnswer2