Wife living with me again, will E.S.A.stop?

getzls

My wife has moved back into the family home with me after a brief separation. She has been on E.S.A. for ten weeks.

What i am asking will her E.S.A.payments cease because of this?

We have one child and i work earning about £21,000 per year.
We phoned the E.S.A.and the person said he didn't know if it would stop.Tried again yesterday but couldn't get through.

My wife has not worked in over 20 years so has not build up any N.I. stamps.

She is due in front of the Medical Support Services for an assessment. If her money will stop because she is back living with me we are thinking she may as well sign her-self off and save her going to this assessment.

Thank you in advance.

iluvmarmite

Was she migrated from incapacity benefit or applied due to ill health? If she was migrated from IB then she will have had enough NI contributions to be on contribution based ESA which will allow her to stay on the benefit (if she passes the WCA of course) for 365 days even if you are working.

If she applied due to ill health then its likely she is on income based ESA due to not having enough NI contributions and if that is the case she will probably have to come off it due to you working and being able to support her.

Hopefully someone with more knowledge than me will come along and put you straight as I can't be 100% sure I'm right.

zzzLazyDaisy

The above response is correct.

If she was a completely new applicant for ESA 10 weeks ago (in other words she only applied for the first time after you split up) she will be on ESA (IR). In that case her entitlement will cease when she moves back in with you, as will her entitlement to any other means tested benefits. Also she is obliged to tell the DWP of her change in circumstances.

But if she was previously on long term IB and was migrated to ESA, she will be on ESA (CB) which is based on the NI conts she made before claiming IB, and her entitlement is not affected by moving back in with you.

getzls

Thanks for the replies folks.

No, she was not on any benifits before going going on E.S.A. My feeling too is her money will stop. We/she have never claimed anything before so thanks for any help.