The amount the law says you need to live on

SusanM wrote: On benefits letters it used to say "The amount the law says you need to live on". I cannot find this information anymore and it doesn't state this on the ESA letter received in July. Does anyone have any idea what the amount is these days? and where this information might be readily available? Have they disguised this as something else?!

My latest letter says "How much the law says you need to live on", however, the reference to the "law" and "the amount you need to live on" is misleading, as far as I am aware there is no such law and no such amount.

For each benefit there is an amount defined in the legislation that is payable to a claimant, this is dependant on their circumstances, typically (but not always) this is the result of their personal circumstances and the rate of benefit they qualify for, so for ESA this is whether you are on the Assessment Rate or in the WRAG or in the Support Group, for ESA(IR) it is dependant on household income, assets and saving and any hours that partner works, for ESA(CB) it is whether claimant is receiving more than £85/week of pension income (or the equivalent).

Current ESA rates are in the following FAQ.

Benefit Rates 2014

Gordon