ESA in Europe

I have been getting ESA for a couple of years now and am in the Support Group. I am thinking of moving to southern France because the weather there helps my health problem (I have a chronic pain condition) whereas the winters here are absolute killers. My dream is that the pain will decrease and I may be able to work there but I would like to know if I can continue to claim ESA when I go over there and whether there is a similar French benefit I could apply for if I do not get better. Any advice would be appreciated.

Hi,

Welcome to Benefits and Work

If your forum name is also your real name, you may wish to change it to maintain some anonymity.

This can be done quite easily by following the instructions on this FAQ :

My full name is showing, how can I stop it?

We do not really advise on claiming/receiving ESA abroad. However, an important aspect of whether you can continue to receive ESA whilst living in France is whether or not your ESA payments are Contribution Based (CB) ESA or Income Related (IR) ESA.

If they are IR ESA, you can only receive payment for up to a maximum of 4 weeks.

See further information from the following links :

www.gov.uk/claim-benefits-abroad/illness...-disability-benefits

&

www.dwp.gov.uk/international/benefits/employment-and-support/

bro58