Can Esa be reinstated?

Witchymitchy

Hi I'd like to ask if Esa can be reinstated after a breakdown of marriage?
I was in the support group , income related ? 4 years ago but lost my ESA when i got married.
My husband and i can't work things out and he is leaving in 3 weeks. I still get my NI contributions paid.
Any help would be appreciated.
Thank you

poppy12345

Witchymitchy wrote: »

Hi I'd like to ask if Esa can be reinstated after a breakdown of marriage?
I was in the support group , income related ? 4 years ago but lost my ESA when i got married.
My husband and i can't work things out and he is leaving in 3 weeks. I still get my NI contributions paid.
Any help would be appreciated.
Thank you

Yes you'll be able to start receiving the money providing your claim is definitely still open and you're receiving the NI Contributions. Ring ESA and they'll tell you for sure if it is.

calcotti

Witchymitchy wrote: »

Hi I'd like to ask if Esa can be reinstated after a breakdown of marriage?
I was in the support group , income related ? 4 years ago but lost my ESA when i got married.
My husband and i can't work things out and he is leaving in 3 weeks. I still get my NI contributions paid.
Any help would be appreciated.
Thank you

I assume you lost your ESA because your joint income with your husband was too high for an income based award and you were not eligible for a contributions based award.

It is worth asking DWP about recalculating your ESA entitlement but there is considerable lack of clarity about this. The DWP often treat NI credits as if there is still an ESA claim open in which case they may accept your request. However in law this is not the case - NI credits on the grounds of Limited Capability for Work are separate from ESA.*

If DWP will not reinstate ESA you will need to claim Universal Credit instead. As UC cannot be backdated I suggest you discuss ESA entitlement with DWP as soon as possible. Keep a note of any conversations you have in case you later find out the advice you have been given was incorrect and you need to complain.

If you will need help to pay rent and do not already have a Housing Benefit claim in your name you will need to claim Universal Credit anyway as you will not be able to make a new Housing Benefit claim. If you have to claim UC for this reason you cannot claim ESA.

Again if you are not receiving Council tax Reduction you may be able to claim this from your local authority (regardless of whether you are claiming ESA or UC).

If you will now be the only adult in the house you should advise the council tax department and request a single person discount (this is separate from Council tax Reduction).

[*NOTE: It is my understanding that the right to NI Credits for Limited capability for Work derive from The Social Security (Credits) Regulations, not from the ESA Regulations. To satisfy the requirement for having an ESA claim you have to have both Limited capability for Work and either meet the contribution requirements or the income related requirements.]

sportsarb

My thoughts on this would be that you would need to make a fresh claim for Income Related, which you can't anymore, because it is not possible in the regulations to make an award on a claim where one doesn't currently exist.

However, not all offices deal with claims the same, so asking ESA would be the best idea and see what they say.

Otherwise it is UC.