Help with ESA please

appletree26

Hi there
My husband has been medically retired from a full time position as a postie but does some permitted work for another company and gets contributions based ESA. I work 23 hours a week, we have no savings and paying a very expensive mortgage!
Does his contributions based ESA ever become income based instead, as obviously he is no longer making NI contributions?
What is happening in April, will he no longer qualify for CB ESA and be switched to IB or just not qualify for any ESA at all?
Many thanks for any advice
x

[Deleted User]

in april he wont be transfered to esa IB if he doesnt qualify for it,and i imagine if you work 23 hours at nmw then he wont

Cpt.Scarlet

You don't say when your husband started to claim ESA, if it was before April 2011 the he will lose his entitlement next April but if it was later then he will have a year of ESA(CB) before he loses it. The restriction for you working is 24 hours, so you are just under the limit, it will therefore be your earnings that will determine whether he will be eligible for ESA(IR). The couples rate will be £111.45 from April 2012.

jonliv

It does depend on whether he is in the ESA (CB) WRAG or the Support Group

If he is in the support Group his ESA(CB) will be unaffected by the changes in April 2012

Jono

MissMoneypenny

Cpt.Scarlet wrote: »

The restriction for you working is 24 hours, so you are just under the limit, it will therefore be your earnings that will determine whether he will be eligible for ESA(IR).

Won't his postie pension and wages from working for another company, come into the calculations too?

appletree26

Thanks for your replies.

He started to claim in June or July this year I think.

I am earning about £9k a year.

He was paying into a pension but he's only 30 so that seems a very long way away til we get any of that! :rotfl:

He is still in the assessment phase of ESA (this is how long it seems to take them to do anything!!) but I guess he will go into the work group rather than support one.

It all seems a bit conflicting - so after a year of ESA it will stop or will it become IR ESA? Am asking really because it would help us enormously if we could apply for the mortgage interest payments, but I think I am correct in saying you can't get this unless you are on IR ESA and not CB?

Thank you all so much for your help

x

appletree26

Also just to add that we have three small children, does that affect our income assessment?