Can some-one please advice me?

Hi

I have a son of 23 yrs who has been diagnosed with Autism since he was 19 yrs even though I knew all along from research that he may have it. He is no longer at College ( He was catching up with stuff he couldnt grasp at school )

Because he also has learning difficulties, it is very hard to decide where he would fit in with employment , everything he does is at a very slow pace , he doesnt like being touched, he gets upset if he hears people whistling , if anyone raises their voice he has panic attacks... I could go on...

He receives DLA but a friend suggested he should be claiming some sort of support from being unemployed. Would he be accepted for ESA and how do I go about it?

Thank you in advance

Hi,

Welcome to Benefits and Work

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Your son can make a claim for ESA !!

He would first need to obtain a fit note (Med 3. "sick note") from his G.P.

Have a look at the information : Here, on The Gov.Uk website Re : making a claim.

Once his claim has been made and accepted, if he has the necessary NI Contributions from employment, he would be entitled to and paid Contribution Based (CB) ESA.

If he doesn't have the requisite number of NI Contributions, as above, he would be financially assessed to see whether he could pass the means test with respect to household income, capital, assets, savings and any hours worked by a partner, if he has one, for payment of Income Related (IR) ESA.

Asset rule for ESA(IR)

24 hour work rule for ESA(IR)

Further, if he is entitled to IR ESA, (even at the initial Assessment Rate, which is currently £57.35/Week for a single under 25 year old. See : Benefit Rates 2014 )

He may also be entitled to : ESA Premiums top-ups, if he is in receipt of MR or HR Care of DLA, lives alone, and nobody claims Carer Allowance for providing Care for him.

IR ESA can also passport recipients to other "benefits" such as Housing Benefit (HB), Council Tax Support (CTS), help with Mortgage Interest Payments as well as free prescriptions and dental care.

Some time after his ESA claim is accepted, he will receive an ESA50 Questionnaire to fill in and return.

He will then be assessed under The ESA Work Capability Assessment (WCA) with or without the need for a "medical", and if successful, he will be placed into either the Support Group (SG), or The Work Related Activity Group (WRAG).

Being placed into either means that extra monies will be paid on top of the £57.35/Week.

Either The SG Component, currently £35.75/Week, or The WRA Component, currently £28.75/Week.

We have an Understanding ESA Guide, 2nd link down this page :

ESA Claims Guides

Whilst on the same page, you will also see the ESA Claims Guides that should be used, (3rd and 4th links down) when the time comes to fill in his ESA50 Questionnaire.

See also our : ESA FAQ’s

You may want to Bookmark/Favourite this page in your browser.

You can then return to it easily and pose any further queries that you may have.

bro58

Hi,

When his fit note is to be sent in to The DWP, keep a copy, in fact, from now on, you would be best advised to keep copies of all paperwork sent to The DWP or ATOS :

Sending Documents to the DWP or ATOS

N.B. His DLA will not be classed as "Household Income" for the purposes of The IR ESA means test.

bro58