ESA time limiting contribution reapply?

cornwall123

Hi

If someone is on ESA contribution and is time limited to one year, I have read somewhere that you can reapply after 12 weeks when your benefit stops and get it extended for another 12 months.

But if you have migrated from IB is this still possible? Obviously, you have to satisfy the contribution national insurance criteria, but will someone who has been on IB for 5 years still be able to do this?

Also. can you do this indefinitely year after year?


I have read this on disability alliance

If you cannot get income-related ESA, you may be able to re-qualify for a year of contribution-based ESA for people in the work-related activity group after 12 weeks. It is possible for someone whose time limited ESA has ended to successfully reclaim again in as little as 12 weeks if they meet the National Insurance contribution conditions under a different and later tax year than before. You are only likely to re-qualify for contributory ESA on this basis if your previous claim for contributory ESA began after 31 December 2010.


On the dwp website also:

Claim based on a later tax year
23
A further claim for ESA(Cont) where the claimant has already been entitled for 365 days on the basis of the contribution conditions can succeed if
1.
the claimant satisfies the first and second contribution conditions (but see DMG 41032 and Memo DMG 11/12 for guidance on relaxation of the first contribution condition) and
2.
in relation to the second contribution condition, at least one tax year is later than the second of the two years on which the previous entitlement was based1.


I found this abou DMG 41032 about relaxation of the 1st condition of national insurance credits


[FONT="EGDKL H+ Helvetica"]RELAXATION OF THE FIRSTCONTRIBUTION CONDITION: ESA(CONT) [FONT="EGDKL H+ Helvetica"][/FONT][/FONT]

18 DMG 41032 [FONT="EGDKL H+ Helvetica"]3.5 [FONT="EGDKL H+ Helvetica"]provides guidance on treatingthe first contribution condition[/FONT]1 as satisfied where the claimanthad received ESA(Cont) in the last tax year immediately before the relevantbenefit year in which a further claim for ESA(Cont) is made2. From 1.4.12this provision is revoked3.[/FONT]


Any help would be very much appreciated




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rogerblack

In short - you can never do this year after year.
Someone on IB can never do this.
It works because after the break, when you make your fresh claim, the years in which you have been contributing are still relevant to your new claim.
If you had worked till Jan 2011, say, then claimed ESA, you will be entitled (to contributions based in the work group) till Jan 2012.
This will be based on the tax years 08/09 and 10/11 (assuming adequate contributions)

In Mar 2012, you reapply for ESA, after closing your old claim.
Your new claim is based on tax years 09/10 and 10/11.
The NI credits from your ESA count towards one of these tax years, but you have to have been working on one year.
But, you were, you worked from Apr-dec 2011, and if you earned enough, you may qualify again for ESA.

In short - this is a method that will work for a very few people.

The only other way to qualify is to spend some significant time actually working.

Someone migrating from IB can never do this, as you have to have spent some time actually working in the relevant tax years.
The relevant tax years for a new claim are the whole tax years preceeding the start of the year. For a fresh claim now - 2009/10 and 10/11

For an IB claimant, as no new claims for IB have been possible for some time, this will only be possible in extremely unusual circumstances, as they cannot have been earning in one of those years.

The above is to the best of my understanding.
My knowledge of the contribution conditions of ESA is not excellent -please do not treat this as a guide to how to break your claim and requalify if you may do so.
If you break your claim for no reason, then if your condition worsens, you will not be paid the support group on a contributory basis as you otherwise may.