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

Mrs_Ryan

epitome wrote: »

As far as I know there is no disregard of OSP for ESA IR or ESA Conts.

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

I have an income of just a bit less than the OP that I have declared from my OSP and a partner who earns 24k a year and I'm getting ESA Conts.. Now in support group but just out of assessment phase, as I understand it income isn't a problem for conts based, certainly wasn't for me and I declared it all and sent them my payslips..

epitome

Mrs_Ryan wrote: »

I have an income of just a bit less than the OP that I have declared from my OSP and a partner who earns 24k a year and I'm getting ESA Conts.. Now in support group but just out of assessment phase, as I understand it income isn't a problem for conts based, certainly wasn't for me and I declared it all and sent them my payslips..

Interesting.

Certainly not all income is not a problem, for conts based, large occupation pensions are taken into account with an £85 disregard. And if you work part time your earnings can be taken into account.

Mrs_Ryan

They did send me a letter with a form about my 'permitted work' to which I rang them and said I hadn't worked since August of last year and I couldn't send them my payslips as they wanted because they already had them :mad: turns out it was a mistake and they already knew about my pay. Maybe it's a case of if you earn over a certain amount or something?

Monkeyballs

Hi,

Just a quick update to wrap this thread up.

This morning I got a letter through the post to confirm that I am entitled to and as such will receive ESA (NI Contributions based) of £72.40 per week

Phew! Huge relief, now I can focus on the business of getting fixed so I can get back to work...

Cheers all!

MB

Robbie64

epitome wrote: »

Interesting.

Certainly not all income is not a problem, for conts based, large occupation pensions are taken into account with an £85 disregard. And if you work part time your earnings can be taken into account.

Occupational Sick Pay isn't the same as an Occupational Pension which is why the former doesn't have any affect on Conts ESA whereas the latter does if the Pension exceeds £85 per week.

Robbie64

alexjonsson wrote: »

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.

You are correct that an employer can reduce any contractual (occupational) sick pay by the amount of ESA payable but not all employers do so. Some employers do this by simply reducing the amount of occupational sick pay by a % once SSP runs out. This saves having to find out how much ESA is in payment and then offsetting this amount against any increased income tax that the person will have to pay from their occupational sick pay as a consequence of ESA being paid. Some employers simply don't bother reducing OSP.

It's a throwback to the old days of Sickness Benefit which employees had to claim from the old DHSS (now DWP) after 3 days sickness prior to the introduction of SSP in 1983 and after 8 weeks sickness prior to the extension of SSP from being payable for a maximum of 8 weeks to the now standard 28 weeks back in 1986. SB (now ESA) was intended to be deducted from any works sick pay so that employees weren't better off on the sick than they would be in work if they were to be paid both SB and OSP. Of course if the employer doesn't do any offsetting then the employer can often be financially better off on the sick.

Any intended deduction of an amount equivalent to ESA from an occupational pension should be in the contract of employment otherwise it is an illegal deduction.

Monkeyballs

Hi,

Sorry to "reawaken" this thread but last week I got a letter to tell me that I have been accepted for NI Contributions based ESA...

Today, I have received in the post a copy of a questionnaire which I filled in with the Jobcentre + adviser over the phone (complete with my responses filled in) and a letter asking for evidence to support my claim?

Eh? Is this right? I would just call but I'm having problems phoning out today...

It's asking for medical certificates, employers letters, wage slips, etc?

I have a bit of time to gather this stuff together but while I'm waiting for my line to be fixed I thought I'd post on here to see if it's something I need worry about doing?

Cheers all,

MB

pmlindyloo

Monkeyballs wrote: »

Hi,

Sorry to "reawaken" this thread but last week I got a letter to tell me that I have been accepted for NI Contributions based ESA...

Today, I have received in the post a copy of a questionnaire which I filled in with the Jobcentre + adviser over the phone (complete with my responses filled in) and a letter asking for evidence to support my claim?

Eh? Is this right? I would just call but I'm having problems phoning out today...

It's asking for medical certificates, employers letters, wage slips, etc?

I have a bit of time to gather this stuff together but while I'm waiting for my line to be fixed I thought I'd post on here to see if it's something I need worry about doing?

Cheers all,

MB

Employment Support Allowance is for people who are not fit for work.

This applies for both the long term sick and those who have been receiving sick pay and their 28 weeks period of having sick pay is up.

To qualify for ESA you have to go through considerable 'hoops' which involves evidence that you are unfit and a medical assessment (in most cases).

ESA and the process involved covers all people from the very seriously ill to those who are temporarily unfit.

Have a read of this:

http://www.disabilityrightsuk.org/employment-and-support-allowance-overview

to explain the process.

The assessment period is 13 weeks after which you should be placed into one of two groups (see the link for further information)

At the moment there appears to be a huge backlog of people waiting for a proper assessment so with a bit of luck you should be fit and well before you are called for an assessment.

Nothing to worry about just send them all the information that they have asked for.

If you are concerned about completing the form your local CAB would be able to help.

HB58

Have you sent in a 'fit note' (used to be called sicknote) yet? If not, that is probably what is being asked for.