Advice on earning while on ESA please.

Zoinks

Hello, could you please advise me. I am unemployed and was on sickness pay, I believe I'm on ESA now.

I suffer from stress, depression, and anxiety. I play guitar, which I find therapeutic and I have had the opportunity lately to play in a music covers band which pays well - around £100 a gig, with about 8 gigs lined up at the moment.
The gigs are irregular work - as and when they have it.

I am just wondering how this would affect my benefit - I live alone in a 2 bedroom council house paying council tax and bedroom tax.
I receive £200 a fortnight on benefits.

In the past I had a part time job and signed on as well, but was financially worse off because of it, struggling to pay my bills.
Any advice on how the gigs would affect me or whether I should do them is gladly appreciated.

Thanks

Keeping

Zoinks wrote: »

Hello, could you please advise me. I am unemployed and was on sickness pay, I believe I'm on ESA now.

I suffer from stress, depression, and anxiety. I play guitar, which I find therapeutic and I have had the opportunity lately to play in a music covers band which pays well - around £100 a gig, with about 8 gigs lined up at the moment.
The gigs are irregular work - as and when they have it.

I am just wondering how this would affect my benefit - I live alone in a 2 bedroom council house paying council tax and bedroom tax.
I receive £200 a fortnight on benefits.

In the past I had a part time job and signed on as well, but was financially worse off because of it, struggling to pay my bills.
Any advice on how the gigs would affect me or whether I should do them is gladly appreciated.

Thanks

It shouldn't affect your benefits because you are allowed to work for 52 weeks while on ESA but you must inform them. If they find out and you didn't tell them they can and will take you off ESA and demand you start repaying the ESA you have been getting from a certain period.

Indie_Kid

Keeping wrote: »

It shouldn't affect your benefits because you are allowed to work for 52 weeks while on ESA but you must inform them. If they find out and you didn't tell them they can and will take you off ESA and demand you start repaying the ESA you have been getting from a certain period.

Not quite. You must do under 16 hours a week. You can earn up to £100 a week and can do this for 52 weeks. You can earn £20 a week for an unlimited period.

You need to fill out a form from the job centre.

Happychappy

What did the benefit office say last time you declared your earnings anything to come off benefits and get back to earning a living for yourself must help your self esteem !

tomtontom

Indie_Kid wrote: »

Not quite. You must do under 16 hours a week. You can earn up to £100 a week and can do this for 52 weeks. You can earn £20 a week for an unlimited period.

You need to fill out a form from the job centre.

Plus the work should not be inconsistent with the reason for claiming. I'm wondering if playing a gig would be seen as contradictory to a claim for anxiety? Playing an instrument can certainly be therapeutic, but performing in a room full of people would create anxiety in the most experienced of performers.

jonsherwood

There are hours that are given as permitted work, however you will have to fill out a form, much like anyone claiming JSA does when they do work whilst still claiming. This is available from JobCentre Plus or you can get it from the Gov.uk website

Horseunderwater

Called a PW1

Zoinks

Thanks for the replies.

I'm just wondering what my situation would be if I take the work and inform the Jobcentre. Would I be signed off?

Just concerned with it not being regular work.


Thanks