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ESA time limits and Voluntary contrabutions
- RosyApple
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5 years 7 months ago #219454 by RosyApple
ESA time limits and Voluntary contrabutions was created by RosyApple
Hi everyone
This looks like a fantastic community and website, I hope you’ll be able to offer some advice as I’m a bit stuck with all the benefits stuff!
To sum up a bit of a saga…
I was working full time and then have had substantial periods off work due to a chronic illness that decided to show up about 18 months ago.
I've just received an SSP1 letter/form saying that I ran out of SSP on in the last week of August and I would now have to claim for ESA.
My area has been moved to UC and, depending who I talk to, and it seems I need to apply for the ‘New ESA’ which seemed to be related to UC.
Currently I’m battling through the PIP form and due to my conditions, just don’t have the mental faculities to dive straight into an ESA form as well, I worry I’ll make a mistake with it.
That’s the background (thank you for reading!), my questions are:
1. Is there a time limit that I have to apply for the ‘New ESA’? With the PIP form I have to return it within a month of applying, so I’m wondering whether, with my work causing such a delay in sending me the information, whether I’m already over the time limit. I have spoken to someone on the ESA line and she said as long as I put the date of claiming as the day I wouldn't be paid SSP from I should be OK. Problem is, though she seemed quite efficient, she admitted she hadn’t been trained on the New ESA so may not have had the most up-to-date information.
2. I am wanting to claim for contribution based ESA, however, after checking online I see I have a deficit for the 16/17 year. If I manually top-up that deficit to meet the contributions for that tax year will I be able to claim the full contribution based ESA? The lady I spoke to couldn’t answer that and I can’t find an answer online.
Thank you in advance!
This looks like a fantastic community and website, I hope you’ll be able to offer some advice as I’m a bit stuck with all the benefits stuff!
To sum up a bit of a saga…
I was working full time and then have had substantial periods off work due to a chronic illness that decided to show up about 18 months ago.
I've just received an SSP1 letter/form saying that I ran out of SSP on in the last week of August and I would now have to claim for ESA.
My area has been moved to UC and, depending who I talk to, and it seems I need to apply for the ‘New ESA’ which seemed to be related to UC.
Currently I’m battling through the PIP form and due to my conditions, just don’t have the mental faculities to dive straight into an ESA form as well, I worry I’ll make a mistake with it.
That’s the background (thank you for reading!), my questions are:
1. Is there a time limit that I have to apply for the ‘New ESA’? With the PIP form I have to return it within a month of applying, so I’m wondering whether, with my work causing such a delay in sending me the information, whether I’m already over the time limit. I have spoken to someone on the ESA line and she said as long as I put the date of claiming as the day I wouldn't be paid SSP from I should be OK. Problem is, though she seemed quite efficient, she admitted she hadn’t been trained on the New ESA so may not have had the most up-to-date information.
2. I am wanting to claim for contribution based ESA, however, after checking online I see I have a deficit for the 16/17 year. If I manually top-up that deficit to meet the contributions for that tax year will I be able to claim the full contribution based ESA? The lady I spoke to couldn’t answer that and I can’t find an answer online.
Thank you in advance!
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- Gordon
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5 years 7 months ago #219464 by Gordon
Nothing on this board constitutes legal advice - always consult a professional about specific problems
Replied by Gordon on topic ESA time limits and Voluntary contrabutions
RosyApple
Welcome to the forum, you might want to have a look at the following FAQ which explains where everything is
Welcome to Benefits and Work
If you are living in a Universal Credit Full Service area then your only option is New Style ESA. You can backdate a claim by up to three months providing the period is covered by a Fit Note so you could delay making a claim until November.
You will need at least 50 weeks of NI Contributions in both of the two Tax Years 2015-16 and 2016-17 to qualify. You say that you are light for the latter, have you checked with HMRC? You can purchase the missing NICs but only in regard to your State Pension, not for the purposes of claiming ESA.
If you cannot claim NS ESA then your only other option would be UC but I would recommend that you get face to face advice before doing this.
Gordon
Welcome to the forum, you might want to have a look at the following FAQ which explains where everything is
Welcome to Benefits and Work
If you are living in a Universal Credit Full Service area then your only option is New Style ESA. You can backdate a claim by up to three months providing the period is covered by a Fit Note so you could delay making a claim until November.
You will need at least 50 weeks of NI Contributions in both of the two Tax Years 2015-16 and 2016-17 to qualify. You say that you are light for the latter, have you checked with HMRC? You can purchase the missing NICs but only in regard to your State Pension, not for the purposes of claiming ESA.
If you cannot claim NS ESA then your only other option would be UC but I would recommend that you get face to face advice before doing this.
Gordon
Nothing on this board constitutes legal advice - always consult a professional about specific problems
The following user(s) said Thank You: snups, RosyApple
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- RosyApple
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5 years 7 months ago #219481 by RosyApple
Replied by RosyApple on topic ESA time limits and Voluntary contrabutions
Thanks for you answer Gordon.
It's not what I wanted to hear but it gives me a start on working out where to go from here.
I have checked on the HMRC website and I'm pretty sure I'm light on 2015-2016. I'm quite worried as my condition is worsening over time and my partner is having to spend more time caring for me instead of working and I’m not able to contribute. The benefits would help to relieve some of the pressure, so this isn’t looking great at the moment.
I'll check my contributions again and try to get some face to face advice once I've got the pip form back in the post. I've found the "Where to get advice" bit on the link you included - thank you for that.
Thanks again for the help!
It's not what I wanted to hear but it gives me a start on working out where to go from here.
I have checked on the HMRC website and I'm pretty sure I'm light on 2015-2016. I'm quite worried as my condition is worsening over time and my partner is having to spend more time caring for me instead of working and I’m not able to contribute. The benefits would help to relieve some of the pressure, so this isn’t looking great at the moment.
I'll check my contributions again and try to get some face to face advice once I've got the pip form back in the post. I've found the "Where to get advice" bit on the link you included - thank you for that.
Thanks again for the help!
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