Question IB-ESA, ( contribution or income based?)

Hi, quick question, can anyone please tell me,

I am being transferred from Incapacity Benefit to ESA Support Group having been on long term IB since 2005 ( I understand this to be income related IB ) and now I am to be placed on 'contrabution based' ESA.

Is this normal/correct ?, I assumed that as a claimant being transferred, I would automatically be placed into 'income related' ESA.

Am I right in thinking that 'contribution based" ESA only lasts for 12 months?, what happens after that ?, the award letter I received states only that "I will continue to receive ESA for as long as I satisfy the conditions to receive benefit" and that I will receive NI contributions.

I am a bit confused by this and wonder if I should ask to be placed on 'income based' ESA instead and also a bit worried that I might have to re-apply after 12 months ?

Any advice greatly appreciated.

Thank's

Scott wrote: Hi, quick question, can anyone please tell me,

I am being transferred from Incapacity Benefit to ESA Support Group having been on long term IB since 2005 ( I understand this to be income related IB ) and now I am to be placed on 'contrabution based' ESA.

Is this normal/correct ?, I assumed that as a claimant being transferred, I would automatically be placed into 'income related' ESA.

Am I right in thinking that 'contribution based" ESA only lasts for 12 months?, what happens after that ?, the award letter I received states only that "I will continue to receive ESA for as long as I satisfy the conditions to receive benefit" and that I will receive NI contributions.

I am a bit confused by this and wonder if I should ask to be placed on 'income based' ESA instead and also a bit worried that I might have to re-apply after 12 months ?

Any advice greatly appreciated.

Thank's

Hi S,

If you were in receipt of IB only, this is a "Contributory Benefit" in that you must have had the requisite number of NI Contributions from employment when your IB claim began.

Therefore, for claimants in receipt of IB only, if successfully transferred to ESA in either group, they would be payed Contribution Based (CB) ESA.

Due to certain personal circumstances, e.g. being entitled to "Disability Premiums" some claimants would have been in receipt of IB with an Income Support (IS) top-up.

If these claimants are successfully transferred to ESA, they would be paid CB ESA with Income Related (IR) ESA top-ups.

See : What will I be transferred to?

&

What will I be paid?

From our : IB, IS, SDA, Migration to ESA FAQ’s

The 365 days entitlement to payment of CB ESA is only applied for claimants not placed into The Support Group (SG) of ESA, so as you are in The SG you will continue to receive your ESA (CB or IR) for as long as you remain in The SG.

See : 12 Month Limit for ESA(CB)

ESA FAQ’s

As you have been placed into the SG, if you are also entitled to IR ESA, you may be entitled to : ESA Premiums

If you have not already been financially assessed for entitlement and payment of IR ESA, you would have to request, fill in and return an ESA 3 Form from/to the DWP.

You cannot "Ask" to be paid IR ESA, although you can ask to be finacially assessed to see whether you are entitled to extra top-ups of IR ESA (as above) which could be paid on top of your CB ESA.

If a claimant is entitled to and paid IR ESA, even if it is only a penny, the 365 days entitlement rule does not apply whether you are in The WRAG or The SG.

The payment of any amount of IR ESA also entitles you to certain "passport benefits" such as HB, CTS, Free Prescriptions & Dental Care, etc.

See also : 24 hour work rule for ESA(IR)

&

Asset rule for ESA(IR)

I hope this explains it for you.

bro58

Thank's Bro58,

If I understand you correctly, I should request and complete form ESA3 as I might be entitled to extra 'income related' premiums over and above my 'contribution based' ESA Support Group award ?. I'v never heard of this form or these premiums before.

I'm still a little confused however as to what is and isn't means tested and what the difference is between 'contribution based' and 'imcome related ?, although I do believe my PIP is non-means tested?.

Thank's again for your quick reply bro58.

Cheers.

I

Scott, if a claimant has enough NI contributions to entitle them to a benefit then that is always looked at, and awarded, first when both contributory and income-related co-exist. It is only if a claimant cannot meet the contributory criteria that income-related is assessed.

People who were on IB, which was a contributory benefit, were moved to contributory ESA, no matter how many years it is since the claimant wotked and made the NI contributions.

Some people on low incomes might also be entitled to an income-related top-up of their contributory benefit. In some circumstances the amount the claimant is deemed to need to live on is raised - if the claimant is on some levels of ESA or DLA for instance. These are the 'premiums' that bro told you about.

ESA (like IB) is paid to people who cannot work, it is meant to help make up a little for lost wages. PIP/DLA can be paid whether or not the claimant works, it is supposed to help with the extra costs associated with being chronically sick or disabled. PIP/DLA are not means tested/income based, nor are contributory benefits.

If things still are not clear then please let us know and we will see if we can explain further.

Hi,

Just read another post re Enhanced Disability Premiums, I have been transferred from long term Incapacity Benefit (since 2005) to ESA Support Group and I'm totally confused by this?.

The award letter I received from DWP states "I may also be entitled to income based ESA", I think this means Enhanced Disability Premiums but does not say if or how to claim them . I have since discovered there's a form 'ESA3' to claim these premiums which I think is some kind of means test.

As I also receive high rate PIP I don't know if I should claim or not ?, would claiming these premiums result in other changes to or loss my ESA or PIP?