Esa

gemma1979

My partner has just put a claim in for ESA He has mental health problems and is on DLA What would happen if he didnt qualify for ESA would they just switch it to JSA or would we have to claim again on turndown for JSA instead and not have anything for the weeks we waiting for the ESA process ?? Are we best putting in a claim for JSa as well in case he gets turned down? Its just Im worried as i have heard ESA is hard to get / qualify for and we need to be claiming something or we wont get our HB

NASA_2

He wont get turned down for ESA straight away, the claim will usually run for a few weeks, or quite a few weeks, until the medical.

If he is turned down at the medical then a claim to JSA is probably the best course of action.

Dont worry about anything until the medical is failed though.

pixi87

Hi, I'm in the process of ESA too (also on DLA) I've not had my medical yet but I got paid my ESA benifits. As NASA says, don't worry until the medical.

DarkFallout

I don't think there is any significant difference in money between ESA and JSA so if he go and sign on JSA what is the problem?

gemma1979

The problem is he is incapable of work he is schizophrenic and has episodes he has tried before and not managed also he tried college and didnt manage that either For JSA you need to be fit for available and willing to work he is willing but not fit (well in most peoples eyes anyway although the DWP's eyes I dont know)

What I mean is if for any reason after the medical he gets turned down (I have heard the medical for ESA is very strict and harsh and heard that only 9 per cent are declared unfit for work etc) do they transfer it to JSA automatically for you or do they end the ESA claim there and you have to then apply for JSA from scratch (so theres a gap between benefits) and what happens to any ESA they have already paid you up to the medical do you have to pay it back if they turn you down at the medical stage

DarkFallout

gemma1979 wrote: »

The problem is he is incapable of work he is schizophrenic and has episodes he has tried before and not managed also he tried college and didnt manage that either For JSA you need to be fit for available and willing to work he is willing but not fit (well in most peoples eyes anyway although the DWP's eyes I dont know)

What I mean is if for any reason after the medical he gets turned down (I have heard the medical for ESA is very strict and harsh and heard that only 9 per cent are declared unfit for work etc) do they transfer it to JSA automatically for you or do they end the ESA claim there and you have to then apply for JSA from scratch (so theres a gap between benefits) and what happens to any ESA they have already paid you up to the medical do you have to pay it back if they turn you down at the medical stage

If he is currently in ... let's say ... reasonable state of mind and can take reasonable self-car of himslef it is unlikely that he will get enough points on ESA ...

From what I know you don't have to pay the money back. The purpose of the assessment phase is to cover short term sickness and the rate is not different from JSA.

I don't know if you have to claim JSA yourself or it will happen automatically. You can call JCP and ask them. I suppose they have a lot of experience with similar cases.

NASA_2

Like I already said - a claim to JSA has to be made - its a totally different benefit.

debrag

DarkFallout wrote: »

If he is currently in ... let's say ... reasonable state of mind and can take reasonable self-car of himslef it is unlikely that he will get enough points on ESA ...

From what I know you don't have to pay the money back. The purpose of the assessment phase is to cover short term sickness and the rate is not different from JSA.

I don't know if you have to claim JSA yourself or it will happen automatically. You can call JCP and ask them. I suppose they have a lot of experience with similar cases.

So if you are the above you don't get ESA? Surely there's more to it. Someone I know who has a fit probably 3 times a year has ESA. He is the above.

gemma1979

well hes definitely not 'fit' at the moment as he is in the middle of an episode which makes him out of touch with reality, aggressive, self-injury risk, un able to process information, unable to communicate and understand normally, incapable of self caring at the mo isnt washing eating cooking etc up all night not sleeping i doubt they would declare him fit for work at the present time but what im saying is the condition fluctuates sometimes he is more functional than at other times but his episodes are frequent as in one week good 3/4 weeks bad etc even at his good points hes not 'normal' in the sense of you and i you can still tell he has issues like he is very disorganised cannot retain and understand processes and information etc But if his medical falls on a good time he may not pass it yet if it falls on a bad time i think he definitely might the thing is do they account for this variations they need to see him really when hes on one

If they do declare him fit to work for example because hes on a good day when the medical falls then lord help them because say he got a job and started it hed end up doing something major very soon into it which would lead to him being sacked or doing something bad like ending up committing some kind of offence and ending up in prison/court then what would happen?? would they still say hes fit to work?

to be honest at the moment im considering contacting his doctor it might not be an issue at present as he may end up being sectioned he is very hard to live with at the moment i am at the end of my tether i dont know how much longer i can cope with him but i feel worried because if i split up with him i worry how he'll ever manage on his own as he seriously doesnt have a clue about bills/self care/running a house/claiming benefits he cant even fill his own forms in or understand his own post he will end up killing himself either by accident (lit cigarette falling asleep or burning house down with cooker or whatever) by purpose or doing something to someone else or he will end up on the street i dont know what to do tbh

Robbie64

If he fails the Work Capability Assessment (WCA - the medical) for ESA then he can appeal against the decision. Whilst he is appealing he can either continue to claim ESA or make a claim for JSA. The claim for ESA can run until the appeal is heard but to continue the claim after failing the WCA an appeal must be made and continuing payments of ESA requested. It isn't true that after failing a WCA the only option is to claim JSA.

ESA paid while persuing an appeal is paid at the assessment rate rather than the 13+ weeks increased rate, in other words it is paid at the amount he currently receives. If he is successful at appeal he will then get any backdated money less the amount he has already been paid.

Robbie64

DarkFallout wrote: »

I don't think there is any significant difference in money between ESA and JSA so if he go and sign on JSA what is the problem?

There are numerous people who have failed the Work Capability Assessment for ESA who have then been deemed to be unavailable for work by JSA because of health problems. The problem is that unless he can show the JSA people he is fit for even limited work (but still at 16+ hours per week) then he won't get any JSA either. The choice isn't always between choosing which benefit to claim. It's sometimes about which benefit they qualify for.