IR ESA and pension

I currently receive CB ESA,which expires in two months(12 month rule).My query is will I be eligable for IR ESA with savings of £15000 and a personal pension plan which matures when I am 60 (4 years time)?

mrsdoyle wrote: I currently receive CB ESA,which expires in two months(12 month rule).My query is will I be eligable for IR ESA with savings of £15000 and a personal pension plan which matures when I am 60 (4 years time)?

Hi md,

Welcome to Benefits and Work

You are correct in that if you are not in The Support Group (SG) of ESA, you are entitled to 365 days payments of CB ESA before payments cease :

12 Month Limit for ESA(CB)

Once payments do cease, ("in two months") you would have to undergo a financial assessment, (generally by way of requesting, filling in and returning an ESA 3 Form to The DWP) to see whether you can pass the IR ESA means test with regards to capital, assets, savings, household income and any hours worked by a partner if you have one.

You are allowed up to £6,000 in capital, assets and savings without it having any effect on your entitlement to payment of IR ESA, if you have in excess of £16,000 you will not be entitled to any IR ESA at all.

Between £6,000-£16,000, weekly deductions would be made from any IR ESA payments as explained in this FAQ :

Asset rule for ESA(IR)

See also :

24 hour work rule for ESA(IR)

Once your pension plan matures, any income from this would be offset £ for £ against any IR ESA payments, so along with the savings, this could cancel out any IR ESA payments that you were entitled to.

I am not absolutely certain whether the pension plan that you speak of would be classed as capital or assets before it matures, so you may be best advised to obtain professional advice on this :

Where to get advice

As you are over 50 years old, you could seek advice from : Age UK.

Failing those options, you could "Google" Welfare Rights/Advice for your Town/Postcode.

What the DWP class as capital, assets and savings is not as straight forward as one may think. Therefore, it would be near impossible to give you a definitive answer on an open forum.

If you are to request an ESA 3 Financial Assessment Form, it may be best to do so shortly if your CB ESA is due to cease in two months.

bro58

Hi ms,

To give you some idea of the personal information required in an ESA 3 Form, here is a : Sample ESA 3 Form.

This is not the current version, but that should be much the same.

bro58