Hi all

Some of you will know I've had a bit of a saga with my son's ESA Youth claim. Turns out they have put him on Income Based and we finally got a backdated payment last Friday.

My question is whilst knowing that he meets all the conditions for ESA(Y) and therefore should be getting ESA(C) under the youth rules, is there actually any point in pursuing this with them? I can't find any info on the difference between the two for youth claims. Amount seems to be the same and free prescriptions are only available on Income based ESA.

Could one of the mods explain to me if there is anything to gain by him being on ESA(C) bearing in mind that he is highly unlikely to have any other source of income for the foreseeable future?

On a seperate note, I had a phonecall from them the other day asking about my son's school,when he left and that they were still looking into a claim under the youth rules. She said they needed to contact the school(which he left in June)

I have no idea why they are doing this and wondering if they have now lost the duplicate backdated medical certificate which I handed into to my local JCP...

Hi Twilight,

What a saga you and your son are having.

I don't think we could advise on which of the two an individual would be better off on, especially as the DWP are supposed to decide this (correctly) in the first place.

But I think most claimants would say that that income-related ESA carries the most advantages.

Steve

What is income related ESA?
Does that mean contribution based?

boris1 wrote:
Income-based ESA is means tested and does not depend on having paid (sufficient) national insurance contributions. The means test is similar to the one used for calculating Income Support entitlement.

Contribution-based ESA is not means tested, but it is awarded according to a persons national insurance record. If the required amount of NI contributions have been paid, a claimant may be entitled to ESA(C). Special rules apply for young persons under the age of 20 or in some cases the age of 25, where they do not need to have a complete NI record to qualify for contribution-based ESA.

Thanks for replying. I'm trying to get my head round why the youth rules are there if there is no real difference in the two types of ESA for young people. The ESA manager at our Jobcentre told me that there was no difference but I have a curious mind and this doesn't make sense to me. Why not just have all young people who haven't paid enough NI contributions on Income Based ESA?

When he say ther is no difference I presume he means in terms of how much money you would get.

I am no expert but it is my understanding that in Youth a person gets contribution based but can then apply for a means tested top up if they are below the savings limit if they qualify for premiums.

"Why not just have all young people who haven't paid enough NI contributions on Income Based ESA?"

If a young person is on contribution based and they moved in with someone they would still retain that contibution part but if on income based they would be reassessed as a couple and may lose it.

If they inherited money in later life that could stop the income based but the contribution based would continue.

As I say I am no expert and may be wrong but just wanted to contribute.