ESA claim for my son

kingfisherblue

Well I have some news already

My son will receive the standard payment of £74.30 (paid fortnightly from 7 May). I still have to fill in his ESA50, which I haven't yet received, and he may still have to attend a face to face. The first hurdle is over though, and quite quickly.

I thought that he would only receive £57.90 a week to start with, as he is single and under 25, but when I queried it, she said that it is the rate paid to him because he is over 20 years old. Everything that I can find online says the assessment rate increases at age 25, and even then, the amount appears to be £73.10. I'm not quite sure why the amount payable to my son is higher, and she could only say that it was because my son is over twenty. She also said that he has been accepted as a disabled student.

Ames

It will be because of his PIP or DLA (I can't remember which he's on). It means he gets a premium which is payable during the assessment period.

kingfisherblue

Thanks Ames - he's still on DLA. I didn't realise that premiums were paid during the assessment period. That's really helpful.

ETA: There is an Enhanced Disability Premium of £16.40, which is the extra amount, so presumably it's this.

pmlindyloo

kingfisherblue wrote: »

Well I have some news already

My son will receive the standard payment of £74.30 (paid fortnightly from 7 May). I still have to fill in his ESA50, which I haven't yet received, and he may still have to attend a face to face. The first hurdle is over though, and quite quickly.

I thought that he would only receive £57.90 a week to start with, as he is single and under 25, but when I queried it, she said that it is the rate paid to him because he is over 20 years old. Everything that I can find online says the assessment rate increases at age 25, and even then, the amount appears to be £73.10. I'm not quite sure why the amount payable to my son is higher, and she could only say that it was because my son is over twenty. She also said that he has been accepted as a disabled student.

Your son is not in the assessment phase. As he is a student with DLA he is automatically placed into the WRAG. He will now be assessed to see if he can be placed in the Support Group.

The WRAG rate is £73.10 per week. It looks like he has been awarded the Enhanced Disability premium because he is receiving high rate care DLA - is that correct?

pmlindyloo

The DWP member of staff was incorrect. The assessment rate for under 25s is £57.90 a week.

https://www.gov.uk/employment-support-allowance/what-youll-get

But as said, he has been placed in the WRAG where there is no age limits.

https://www.gov.uk/employment-support-allowance/what-youll-get

kingfisherblue

Thank you pmlindlyloo. Yes, he receives the high rate of DLA for both care and mobility. In the initial phone call, I was asked about his course. He is no longer in a special school, as the age limit where we live is 19, but his college course is Foundation Learning, where he is working towards Level 1 in maths and English, and has other classes suitable for someone with severe learning disabilities. The DWP lady did say that they accept that he is a student when she was on the phone.

Obviously this is all new to me, and despite reading quite a bit about it, I'm learning more each time I post. I thought that you had to fill in ESA50 before being put into WRAG or Support. The lady from the DWP did say that they are sending out the form (which I've looked at online). She told me about the likelihood of a Face to Face - which I was aware of - then a decision would be made about which group to put him in. I may have misunderstood her, but I did have the impression that my son is in the assessment phase, especially as when I queried the higher payment, she said that it was because he is over twenty. I'm quite happy that he has been put into the WRAG group to start with though, and to take him to any work related activities. I doubt if that will happen, but I'm prepared, just in case.

w06

Mine as a student was a bit different as I wasn't entitled to any payment just the NI credits but it did appear to work as it's supposed to with the ESA50, assessment (on paper un benkown to me at the time) and then being placed in a group. My only issue with the process was the incomprehensible letters they sent me

kingfisherblue

w06 wrote: »

My only issue with the process was the incomprehensible letters they sent me

Surely they can't be as bad as the council tax letters :rotfl:

w06

I think they're all secretly in competition to produce the letter that includes the information needed but in such a contrived way nobody can find it.

Something to do with first letters of each word, the Fibonacci series and lunar phase I reckon. Must admit UC where you actually 'speak' to people via the journal is a breath of fresh air.

kingfisherblue

UPDATE:


My son has a face to face assessment on 29th June, so he will miss his last day in college for this school year (they finish at lunch time, and with the timing of the appointment, it's unlikely that he will go in before or after the appointment). I don't know how long they will be in making a decision regarding which group he is to be placed in, but he definitely fits a few support group descriptors.


I'll update again after his F2F.