Confusion regarding ESA

BMG

I am asking this on behalf of my best friend who isn't on the internet.
She was originally on JSA and then it was switched to ESA Works group (not sure of full name). Her benefits stopped immediately when she was put in the group. 18 mths later she has had a letter that says she has moved to the support group and is now receiving payments again.


Her question is, she does a job for a non profit making company, which isn't a charity. It is a club that had to be a limited company due to various insurances etc. She works from home, so can do as much or as little as she can manage with her illness. It is an unpaid job.


Will this stop her receiving the benefit money?


Any help you can give here would be appreciated because I don't have the answer to give her. I know why she is worried as she is in huge debt and the payments each month will help her out greatly

help4help2013

i know that you can do voluntary works whilst claiming esa but i think you do need to inform the dwp of it weather its paid or unpaid.

when you say the payment she gets each month is that from her ESA? as ESA is paid fortnightly

BMG

It is ESA that she is being paid, I thought she said monthly but it might have been fortnightly.


I apologise she was on incapacity benefit prior to this not JSA

BMG

Still none the wiser on this subject. My friend and I have scoured the internet.


Help Please

rogerblack

BMG wrote: »

Her question is, she does a job for a non profit making company, which isn't a charity. It is a club that had to be a limited company due to various insurances etc. She works from home, so can do as much or as little as she can manage with her illness. It is an unpaid job.


Will this stop her receiving the benefit money?

In principle, yes.
My understanding is that depending on the facts of the case, she may not be entitled to ESA, and may never have been while she was doing this.

The basic rules.
You cannot claim ESA while you are working.

Work does not have to be for pay to be work.
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.php?p=64198620&postcount=6

Goes into this in considerably more detail.

If she is just contemplating starting this - she needs to get confirmation from the DWP that this is permitted work.

Doing anything that might be viewed as work (and the rules are extraordinarily wide) outside the permitted work framework does not mean that they can dock your benefit for weeks it occurs.

It means that you have for all intents and purposes started work, and are no longer eligible for ESA at all, and any ESA paid after that date is likely to be recoverable, with possible prosecution for benefit fraud if the sum is high enough.

https://www.gov.uk/employment-support-allowance/eligibility

The DWP have a _lot_ of leeway in how they interpret the rules, which doesn't help matters in cases like this.

mikey_bach

To be classed as voluntary work this work must be carried out for a registered charity.
It sounds like your friend is doing unpaid work, she would need to ring ESA and declare it, they can decide if they will allow it as permitted work.

There are different rules for permitted work.
https://www.gov.uk/employment-support-allowance/eligibility


They may assume an income or apply the minimum wage to this work, depending on how many hours she does, she may be ok and she would still be entitled if they accept it.

mossylawn

There are people on YouTube who know more about ESA rights than most of us. PM me if you need links or info, BMG.

As she's already in the work group, I'm under the impression she can volunteer up to 16 hours a week, but must not be paid for it. This is how it works for JSA. The difficulty would be if she were in the non-work group. Could be wrong, but I've been dealing with ATOS for four years, and this stuff seeps into your brain in the end . A side note: non-profit is better than charity, as charities earn money whilst non-profits can't profit.

Hope things work out okay for your friend, and for yourself as well.

rogerblack

mossylawn wrote: »

There are people on YouTube who know more about ESA rights than most of us. PM me if you need links or info, BMG.

As she's already in the work group, I'm under the impression she can volunteer up to 16 hours a week, but must not be paid for it. This is how it works for JSA. The difficulty would be if she were in the non-work group.

Youtube is in general an extremely poor source of advice for complex matters.
It tends to unhelpful polemics without citations.
If you have useful sources - post them here.

The permitted work rules allow paid work, in both the support and work-related groups without affecting your ESA.
_BUT_ you must tell the DWP about it, or you risk it being found that it isn't permitted work, and you have been working.

In principle, on rechecking the rules, there are exemptions for voluntary work done for not-for-profit organisations - as well as charities.
But - as above - contact them.

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/252042/dmg-vol8-ch41.pdf
Permitted work regulations - search for 'Exempt Work'.