esa and holiday abroad?

[Deleted User]

getting esa support group inc and con based

tele them today to advise we are going to spain for 10 days in 2 weeks time(as you should)told someone would phone me back,they did and said they would send out a form then they would decide if my esa would continue to be paid or not
i was surprised as everything i have read says you can do this for 4 weeks with no break in benefit(which was what happened 4 years ago when we got income support/incapacity)
tbh the woman i spoke to didnt seem to have a clue,she suggested that the cont based bit might still be paid but not the income based ????

anyone any recent experience of this or definitive answer?

thanks in advance

epitome

You are definitely entitled to have both ESA Conts and ESA IR continue for 28 days. The claim should not be closed or suspended but a lot of the time they do suspend it until you call them to say you are back.... and then if is less than 28 days you will get arrears paid.

Strictly speaking AFAIK you don't have to inform them you are going away *if* you are going away for 28 days or less.
I used to have a link to a DWP document that showed this but I don't have it anymore.

But it's best to inform them because if something comes up whilst you are away you can tell them "I told you I would be away on holiday".

[Deleted User]

would it be an idea to send a copy of the holiday confirmation which shows the dates?

epitome

With the form they are sending you, yes, good idea, and point out to them that you want ESA to continue in payment whilst you are away that you will need the money for living expenses, to be drawn on your bank card while away. That you understand that payments should not be stopped.

sh1981

woodbine wrote: »

getting esa support group inc and con based

tele them today to advise we are going to spain for 10 days in 2 weeks time(as you should)told someone would phone me back,they did and said they would send out a form then they would decide if my esa would continue to be paid or not
i was surprised as everything i have read says you can do this for 4 weeks with no break in benefit(which was what happened 4 years ago when we got income support/incapacity)
tbh the woman i spoke to didnt seem to have a clue,she suggested that the cont based bit might still be paid but not the income based ????

anyone any recent experience of this or definitive answer?

thanks in advance

You are NOT allowed holidays and such luxaries if you are on ESA. Contribution based benefits can be paid however with income based I think 3 months was the limit and with DLA 6 months (im not sure but i think that was it some months back).

sh1981

epitome wrote: »

You are definitely entitled to have both ESA Conts and ESA IR continue for 28 days. The claim should not be closed or suspended but a lot of the time they do suspend it until you call them to say you are back.... and then if is less than 28 days you will get arrears paid.

Strictly speaking AFAIK you don't have to inform them you are going away *if* you are going away for 28 days or less.
I used to have a link to a DWP document that showed this but I don't have it anymore.

But it's best to inform them because if something comes up whilst you are away you can tell them "I told you I would be away on holiday".

ABSOLUTELY WRONG!!! If you leave the country, whether you are on CA, IS, ESA, JSA whatever, you have to inform them, even HMRC. You cannot even think of, and I mean even dream of, having a holiday abroad without informing the respective benefits agency.

Morglin

woodbine wrote: »

would it be an idea to send a copy of the holiday confirmation which shows the dates?

You can notify them, but payments will continue if you away for less than 28 days (Income related ESA) and longer if you are on Contributory ESA.

Lin

HB58

Strictly speaking AFAIK you don't have to inform them you are going away *if* you are going away for 28 days or less.
I used to have a link to a DWP document that showed this but I don't have it anymore.

The paperwork that comes with the ESA award stated that the DWP should be informed if the claimant is going to be away from home for a day or more. Of course, we all always do that ...

epitome

sh1981 wrote: »

You are NOT allowed holidays and such luxaries if you are on ESA. Contribution based benefits can be paid however with income based I think 3 months was the limit and with DLA 6 months (im not sure but i think that was it some months back).

Within the UK on ESA you can go on holiday for as long as you want. Outside UK only for 28 days max for ESA IR, For ESA C can be longer (within the EU) by agreement between claimant and DWP.

sh1981 wrote: »

ABSOLUTELY WRONG!!! If you leave the country, whether you are on CA, IS, ESA, JSA whatever, you have to inform them, even HMRC. You cannot even think of, and I mean even dream of, having a holiday abroad without informing the respective benefits agency.

Is that block caps and exclamation mark really necessary? I said "AFAIK" (as far as I know) and I said "I used to have a link to a document which said this", so you might want to take some caution when making statements like that because you could be wrong.

HB58 wrote: »

The paperwork that comes with the ESA award stated that the DWP should be informed if the claimant is going to be away from home for a day or more. Of course, we all always do that ...

Always wise to tell them. But it is not required (apparently).

Here, this is not the one I had before but it is similar and proves the point.
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/269165/wp-pg-chapter-5.pdf

Participant has a holiday planned (within GB)
14. The process for participants taking holidays differs depending on their claimant group:
• All ESA claimant groups are not limited to the amount of time they are allowed to spend away from home within Great Britain; also they are not expected to notify yourselves or the Benefit Centre if they go on holiday.

Participant is going abroad temporarily (including holidays abroad)
18. ESA claimants can go abroad for a period of up to 4 weeks and do not have to notify Jobcentre Plus that they are doing so.


ALSO (rogerblack you might be interested) I found this on that document which answers one of the questions which has been bugging me about Work program JSA - to ESA
Mandatory participant moves from JSA to ESA
27. Where you are notified that a mandatory JSA participant has ceased their JSA to claim ESA, they remain attached with you and their participation requirements should be treated as the same as those of a Voluntary ESA participant until the outcome of the Work Capability Assessment (WCA)

Now the question is .... What are the rules about non-participation for a voluntary ESA participant?

[Deleted User]

thanks for all the comments
the form came this morning to fill in regarding going abroad on hol it was and i kid you not 20 pages long !!! total madness

epitome

What is the form called? what number on the front cover bottom corner?