ESA 12 months up, what now?

Dan1961 · 5 March 2018 at 4:07PM

Hi everyone,
I'm guessing this question has been asked numerous times but need advice on my particular circumstances etc.
I was retired medically from my driving job of 32 years, I was advised to go on to ESA which I did and have been in receipt of payments since may 2017.
I received a letter recently stating that the 12 months were nearing and I would no longer be entitled to these payments.
I knew this anyway but my question is what do I do now?
Will I be entitled to a different benefit?
I have never claimed benefits and at a loss as to what to do next
My wife works part time and we just about get by with the adition of ESA to her salary but when it stops it will be a diffferent story.

Thanks in anticipation for any help with advice.

Gig1968 · 5 March 2018 at 4:10PM

You may be entitled to income related esa . Depends on the value of your savings

Dan1961 · 5 March 2018 at 4:36PM

Thank You Gig1968.
We dont have any savings as we have had to use what we had to get by this first year.
We are fortunate I think with having no mortgage or young children at home.
Being told I can no longer work due medical reasons at the age of 56 came as a complete and devestating shock. I'll take a look at Income related ESA and see how we go.

Many thanks for the advice,
Kind regards
Dan.

TELLIT01 · 5 March 2018 at 5:04PM

Entitlement to Income Related ESA isn't just based on savings, it's based on other aspects such as any pension you may be receiving, the number of hours your wife works and her earnings.
Have you looked at the possibility of claiming PIP? If not that is another area to investigate.

pmlindyloo · 5 March 2018 at 5:15PM

First of all have you has a Work Capability Assessment and were you placed in the WRAG group or are you still in the assessment phase?

Contribution based ESA WRAG can only be paid for 365 days.

Your options are:

1. You may be entitled to another year of contribution based ESA if you were placed in the WRAG depending on whether you meet the criteria. More about this here:
https://www.gov.uk/employment-support-allowance/types-of-esa

2. You could make a new claim for ESA if your condition has severely deteriorated/you have a new condition to see if you are eligible for the Support Group which is not time limited. (see the link)

3. You can ask to be assessed for income based ESA. This, as already said can be awarded if you meet the criteria for capital, hrs your partner works and their earnings. it would be your claim with your wife added to that claim. If you are not eligible for income based ESA then you can still keep your ESA claim open to receive your NI credits towards your state pension and other benefits in the future. You would have to attend work focussed interviews. So how many hours does your wife work and what are her earnings?

4. If you are not eligible for contribution based or income based ESA then you may be eligible for council tax reduction or housing benefit. Try the benefits calculator suggested.

5. You may be eligible for PIP. Google for more information. This is not means tested.

If you are entitled to nothing then your wife may have to increase her earnings and/or you get a part time job (if this is possible).

You may wish to get some support from a benefits advisor or from CAB.

Danday · 5 March 2018 at 7:13PM

Am I not correct in saying that it is for the DWP to assess ALL ESA claimants to establish if they may be eligible for Income Based ESA and not the responsibility of the claimant?

Danday · 5 March 2018 at 8:49PM

I do believe that the DWP were found lacking in not carrying out this exercise in the past which resulted in many people not only having their benefit stopped and for some not being paid the correct level of income where a Income Based top up should have been paid in addition to the Contribution Based element together with unpaid premiums as well.

WillowCat · 5 March 2018 at 10:17PM

Any entitlement to income based ESA would cease if your wife is working 24 hours or more per week.

Are you in a universal credit area? Or is it coming soon to your area? UC can be more flexible for a couple with one disabled party and one working than ESA.

TELLIT01 · 6 March 2018 at 8:21AM

Danday wrote: »

I do believe that the DWP were found lacking in not carrying out this exercise in the past which resulted in many people not only having their benefit stopped and for some not being paid the correct level of income where a Income Based top up should have been paid in addition to the Contribution Based element together with unpaid premiums as well.

That was when people were transferred from Incapacity Benefit to ESA. IB was purely Contribution based, there was no Income Related element. When people were transferred they should have been sent ESA3 forms so that they could provide information to identify any entitlement to IR benefits. In many cases that didn't happen.
With a new claim for ESA it's a decision for the claimant whether to claim Conts only or IR. If we were asked we always told people to make a claim for IR and let the system decide if they had an entltlement. If they only claimed Conts we didn't have all the information required in order to determine potential IR entitlement.

Danday · 8 March 2018 at 4:31PM

Penitent wrote: »

They sent me about half a dozen letters telling me to get in touch if I wanted to be assessed for income-based in the run up to my contribution-based running out, and when I had my little meltdown they sent someone to my house to see if I was entitled to anything, so I don't feel they've let me down in that regard. I was very much aware that the option was there. I may be wrong, but I imagine most claimants prefer it this way, rather than having the DWP pro-actively raking through their finances to check if they're eligible.

It would appear that you live within an area that is overstaffed with DWP civil servants.
Never have I heard or had personally any such correspondence or 'a knock on the door from a DWP employee'.
My experience has been the opposite. I was on ESA (contributions based) until I was 65! It was by chance that I realised that at 65 I should have been claiming an Income Based benefit as well and could have done so for the previous 5 years. When a claim was made for Pension Credit they would not entertain any of the unclaimed 5 years even though our income would have generated one.

aussiesbird · 8 March 2018 at 4:41PM

My husband is in the exact same position. He has been ringing nearly every month and more recently every 2 weeks, as his CB-ESA is due to end this month. When he applied he was told he would need to have a health assessment but the DWP have not been forthcoming with an appointment. Every time he rang he was told 'there is a back log but it's in the system to be dealt with' Over the last 3-4 months he has been ringing them on a more regular basis, as he knew this type of benefit only gets paid for 365 days, he is told on every call that it is in the final stages and he will hear very soon. Nothing ever materialised and the other day he received a letter stating the benefit will stop and if he wants to be considered for IR-ESA he has to ring them and request it!??? We are totally confused as to what is going on. He claims PIP and had an assessment for that which didn't go in his favour, he appealed and it went to tribunal and the original decision was overturned. Can they not use the assessment and tribunal decision from PIP?
Any advice would be appreciated before we manage to get through to speak to an advisor.

ESA 12 months up, what now?

Comments

Categories

Get our FREE Weekly email full of deals & guides - and it’s spam-free