ESA - Never applied for benefits before so a little worried...

Monkeyballs

Hi,

I am employed but have been on long term sick since the end of last year.

Luckily my employer has been giving me company sick pay and SSP combined but my SSP will end on the 17th of June.

They have told me to and I just have done - contact Jobcentre Plus and completed an ESA application which will be posted out to me shortly...

When SSP ends my monthly company sick pay is going to drop to approximately £800 which will be paid at the end of each month.

My concern is, is that too much? Am I likely to not receive ESA for any reason?

I pay £495 in rent each month which includes bills etc. but have other outgoings which include a DMP (which I know can be reduced) of £300!

I have no savings or other income and claim no other benefits so I'm worried that if it's rejected then I'm a tad screwed

Cheers

MB

pmlindyloo

Monkeyballs wrote: »

Hi,

I am employed but have been on long term sick since the end of last year.

Luckily my employer has been giving me company sick pay and SSP combined but my SSP will end on the 17th of June.

They have told me to and I just have done - contact Jobcentre Plus and completed an ESA application which will be posted out to me shortly...

When SSP ends my monthly company sick pay is going to drop to approximately £800 which will be paid at the end of each month.

My concern is, is that too much? Am I likely to not receive ESA for any reason?

I pay £495 in rent each month which includes bills etc. but have other outgoings which include a DMP (which I know can be reduced) of £300!

I have no savings or other income and claim no other benefits so I'm worried that if it's rejected then I'm a tad screwed

Cheers

MB

Whilst you are claiming company sick pay you will not be entitled to ESA.

You may be entitled to Housing Benefit. If you have not applied for HB during the last 52 weeks you would get your full rent paid for 13 weeks (protection rule) This is to allow you to try to manage your situation in the short term (e.g. find somewhere cheaper to live)

You may also be entitled to CT reduction.

It may be that you are not entitled to any benefits.

If that is the case then you need to speak to your DMP provider asap, explain your circumstances and reduce your weekly payment to something more manageable or explore other options for your debt.

If you have been off work for such a long time have you investigated claiming Personal Independence Payment? This is not means tested and is awarded for having care/mobility needs. Google for more information. However, in most areas the application process is taking some months so even if you were awarded PIP it would not help your current situation.

Without the DMP payment (or with it drastically reduced) and with all bills included in your rent you should manage - you won't have much 'wriggle room' but you should be able to feed yourself. Not wishing to sound unsympathetic but it is what it is.

Hope you get sorted health wise soon.

McKneff

Is this £800 company sick pay, is it going to be paid for a certain amount of time and then stop altogether.

Monkeyballs

Hi,

Thanks for the replies so far

I hadn't even heard of ESA before this morning when I got a letter telling me the SSP element of my pay is stopping soon and to contact Jobcentre Plus to make an ESA claim!

Contractually, I am entitled to 75% pay for another four and a half months or so but I never realised that a part of this was made up of SSP and in the latter part ESA? My employer has told me that my pay from them will automatically be reduced by the amount of ESA I should be entitled to... I did ask what happens if my claim is not successful but was just told it would be reduced by what I should be entitled - hence my concern

I'm a total stranger to the benefits system - my only brush with benefits was about 12 years ago when I was made redundant after 10 months in a job (so no redundancy package) and out of work for 2 months during which time my unemployment benefit application was dragged out and when I found another job was told I wasn't entitled! So no help given and now I'm sceptical at best... I'll certainly look into PIP though, I can get around and do things myself but not without pain - I'd rather the doc just fixed me so I can go back to work

As for my debts, I'm not worried as I know there are always options open to me and I'll cross that bridge when it comes to it really I just don't want to find myself in a position where I'm living off pasta and toast LOL

McNeff - Yes, I will be getting @ £800 from my employer for about another four to five months and then it will stop completely at which point (while I think still being employed) I'll have no income from my employer at all then I guess I'm fully reliant on benefits

MB

McKneff

Good luck with it all, hopefully you will now have another few months to make yourself familiar with the benefit system or is there a chance you could be well enough to go back to work before that happens.


And of course, it depends on your circumstances too, you say you pay rent, are you single, do you live with family. Partner, children. Its a minefield out there. x

tomtontom

pmlindyloo wrote: »

Whilst you are claiming company sick pay you will not be entitled to ESA.

You can claim CB ESA whilst in receipt of OSP. OP, have you been in regular work for the past few years?

alexjonsson

pmlindyloo wrote: »

Whilst you are claiming company sick pay you will not be entitled to ESA.

I believe this to be incorrect. My understanding is that it is perfectly OK to claim ESA whilst being paid contractual sick pay. The confusion is that you will not be entitled whilst receiving statutory sick pay (SSP), which is different.

Now as your SSP will end, your employer should issue you with a form SSP1, outlining why you are no longer entitled to SSP. You will need this to claim ESA.

My understanding is that it is true that if your employer is paying you (at for example 75%) contractual sick pay, or via permanent health insurance (PHI), this can be reduced by the amount of ESA you receive.

That is not to say that you will be entitled to ESA. It can be safely assumed that you will not be entitled to income-based ESA, but, depending on your 'recent' NI contributions, you are most likely entitled to contributions-based ESA.

If you don't end up being entitled to ESA then I don't think your PHI/contractual sick pay should be reduced, and this is where the contentious issue arises.

I myself am in a similar situation. I currently am receiving payment from a PHI policy via my employer, and also have a claim for ESA pending. I actually don't believe that I'll be entitled due to a lack of contributions. My employer also hasn't stipulated that my PHI amount will be reduced by the ESA amount.

Hope this has helped, if not, sorry.

epitome

As far as I know there is no disregard of OSP for ESA IR or ESA Conts. If anyone knows different then some links to the proof would be nice to see.

With an income of £200 a week you won't be entitled to any ESA payments be it ESA Conts or ESA IR,
But you will be entitled to claim ESA and recieve National Insurance credits
Your claim for ESA will be open and waiting for your Assessment which could take 3 - 4 months or longer.

When your income drops you can tell ESA, and then Your ESA can start to pay you if it drops low enough.

Are you single or live with a partner?

If you have a partner their working hours and income will be taken into account for eligibility for ESA IR..

pmlindyloo

tomtontom wrote: »

You can claim CB ESA whilst in receipt of OSP. OP, have you been in regular work for the past few years?

My apologies

Yes, you can claim contribution based ESA if you are eligible and still receive company sick pay (but not SSP)

http://www.colchester.gov.uk/article/8684/Employment-and-Support-Allowance

Let's hope the OP is eligible - every bit helps, as they say.

Must admit I didn't know this so hope the link is correct!

Monkeyballs

Hi all,

Really appreciate all your replies even if I don't understand all abbreviations LOL a bit of research is needed on my part me'thinks

Fingers crossed I'll make a recovery soon.. It's been over five months now and I can only walk, sit and stand in the same place for a short period of time without pain I'd happily go back to work tomorrow if the pain stopped!

Ok, so I have been full time employed (excluding the two months many moons back) continuously for the last 22 years and always paid tax and NI on my earnings.

I have been with my current employer for a little over 7 years.

I'm a single male living in a room in a shared house for which I pay £495 rent pcm inclusive of all bills excluding tv licence (and food obviously).

In the back of my mind I'm thinking that earning just £800 pcm would equate to £9600 per year which is low income right? And surely I'd be entitle to help right? LOL I know I'm over simplifying though...

Cheers again,

MB

Monkeyballs

Hi,

I've been doing some digging and I don't know if I'm missing something here... Everything says that during the assessment phase (13 weeks of claim) I am entitled to £72.40?

Reading through I can see if I'm entitled it will be contributions based (which I have no reason to think I've not made sufficient contributions) so is the £72.40 automatic? How long does the assessment phase actually last normally?

Sorry if I'm asking stupid questions here...

MB