Contribution-based Employment and Support Allowance

spangles72

Hi there

I am looking for some advice please...I was claiming CB ESA which ended in January 2013. Unfortunately my husband broke his back two weeks ago and is unfit for work. My dilemma is this....DSS says he is not entitled to Contributions Based ESA as he has been self employed since October 2011. But, he worked in full time employment paying full PAYE contributions for an employer for 20+ years prior to this. Can someone tell me why these contributions no longer matter, and why he is not entitled to Contributions based when he has more than paid into the system previously??? I have been to a tribunal and have been declared unfit for work it's just that my contributions based payment has run out after having it paid for 12 months...despite paying in for over 20 years myself....I no idea why he shouldn't qualify...can somebody explain it because all the DSS say is no he's not entitled? We have minimal savings certainly not enough to be disqualified on these grounds_pale_

Torry_Quine

spangles72 wrote: »

Hi there

I am looking for some advice please...I was claiming CB ESA which ended in January 2013. Unfortunately my husband broke his back two weeks ago and is unfit for work. My dilemma is this....DSS says he is not entitled to Contributions Based ESA as he has been self employed since October 2011. But, he worked in full time employment paying full PAYE contributions for an employer for 20+ years prior to this. Can someone tell me why these contributions no longer matter, and why he is not entitled to Contributions based when he has more than paid into the system previously??? I have been to a tribunal and have been declared unfit for work it's just that my contributions based payment has run out after having it paid for 12 months...despite paying in for over 20 years myself....I no idea why he shouldn't qualify...can somebody explain it because all the DSS say is no he's not entitled? We have minimal savings certainly not enough to be disqualified on these grounds_pale_

It doesn't matter how many years of contributions you have. the only ones that matter are in the two recent tax years that they look at.

would you be able to claim income based though?

Horseunderwater

While self employed did you OH pay Class 2 national insurance or not? If not then he probably will not have paid enough. Class 1 is NI via the PAYE system and employment and the current claim linking years are now 2010/11 and 2011/12. I think you need to have earned above £110 per week for 10/11 and £139 for 11/12 and that it has to be over a min 52 weeks spanning one or more of these years. Or at least it used to be. You could try ringing up the National insurance help line and ask them how much he paid and when and if there was enough actually paid for him as the DWP have been known to get it wrong. Make sure that you have his national insurance number to hand when you do so. You should based on your new circumstances be entitled to IR ESA for both of you I should think - so ask for form ESA 3 and fill it in as the main claimant backdating it to the date the other claim ended and you OH had the accident. So that may help.

spangles72

would you be able to claim income based though?

Ok so now at least I know how they work it (past two years only) Good to know that 20 plus years doesn't matter a jot! He does qualify for income based but the difference between contributions based and income related is quite substantial.
Thanks for your help though x

spangles72

While self employed did you OH pay Class 2 national insurance or not? If not then he probably will not have paid enough.

Yes he did pay all his class 2 payments for both years that he was self employed?

Torry_Quine

spangles72 wrote: »

would you be able to claim income based though?

Ok so now at least I know how they work it (past two years only) Good to know that 20 plus years doesn't matter a jot! He does qualify for income based but the difference between contributions based and income related is quite substantial.
Thanks for your help though x

They are the same though whether income or contribution based. Also income based gets access to other things like dental care etc.

epitome

You should have started a new thread, this was very confusing to read through.

For you,...your ESA C entitlement, placed in the WRAG, allowed to have 365 days and then it stops. You will have to claim ESA IR now.

For him, as he broke his back in 2013 he can't backdate his claim into 2012 which could have been very rewarding, however, he can't, so he is stuck with a 2013 claim using tax years 10/11 & 11/12

Self employed credits do count, however, unlike Employed persons, for whom it is based on amount earned rather than number of weeks paid, I think (I will have to check this again and come back) self employed qualifiers are based on the number of weeks paid rather than amount earned.

In a nutshell, (in the absence of claiming any other benefit like JSA during those two tax years), he would need to have paid 50 weeks NI credits for both those tax years. If he was employed for the 10/11 tax year he may satisfy that tax year based on his amounts earned.

Was he unemployed for example after April 2011 until he started self employment in October 2011? and he did not claim JSA?

If you lay out all the dates of his employment / self employment and approx earnings for the employed periods for those 2 tax years. Maybe I can advise further.

epitome

Torry_Quine wrote: »

They are the same though whether income or contribution based. Also income based gets access to other things like dental care etc.

Not neccesarily, two claims in the same household for ESA C will be much better than a claim for ESA IR.

However, in this scenario, her ESA C has ended, so it won't make any difference, unless she goes into SG in the future.

Torry_Quine

epitome wrote: »

Not neccesarily, two claims in the same household for ESA C will be much better than a claim for ESA IR.

However, in this scenario, her ESA C has ended, so it won't make any difference, unless she goes into SG in the future.

That's true but not what she was asking about though. She thought contribution was more. One person claiming ESA will get the same whatever type it is. Income based is always on the household so in this case would be more than a single claim.

spangles72

Thanks to everyone for all of your help
We are struggling at the moment and with two young children and a husband with a broken back I feel like I am drowning!
I tried to make an appointment with the Citizens Advice but I cannot get one for a fortnight so any advice is very gratefully received.
I had been led to believe that CB ESA was a considerably higher rate than IR ESA but perhaos this is wrong? I feel like I am banging my head against a brick wall...I had made at least ten phone calls to DSA today and been treated like the scum of the earth on all of them! They seem to be utterly disinterested and unwilling to help.
My husband has at no point in the last twenty years claimed for anything, I had an accident 18 months ago and was forced to give up work and now my husband is in the same boat!
Any advice on what to apply for and what we may be entitled to is very helpful, obviously with his accident being very recent we are still up on the air on what his likely prognosis is but I have to deal with this alone as it's another worry he doesn't need.
I have asked for Council Tax Benefit and am waiting to hear. I assume because we have a mortgage we will get no 'housing type benefit' but is there anything else I should be claiming for?