ESA

Hi I was wondering if anyone else is in my situation regarding ESA payments ending.. I was on IB for ten years when it changed to ESA. I was given ESA for 1 year and was then told that because my late husband had left me a pension, I had to live on this pension. This was not the case under IB. The inherited pension was ignored. I have struggled very badly now for nearly two years on a very small pension. I have now been selected to be re=assessed for PIP after having a life time award for DLA. I am at my wits end and may have to give up my home if I lose my DLA. Does anyone have any advice for me? I didn't know I could lose my ESA as I thought it was on my contributions. I am 60 years old and don't qualify for my pension until I am 66. What a mess.

Hi Sue

You may have been wilfully misinformed by the DWP. If you are on contribution based ESA it does cease after a year and your pension may make you ineligible for means tested ESA but you should have received a determination showing the calculations. If your pension is not equal or more than the law says you need to live on you can claim Income Support. If you rent or pay a mortgage on your home you should claim Housing Allowance from your council. You should also claim help with your Council Tax from your council.
You could try going to your local CAB for benefits advice or Google welfare/benefits advice in your area. If you have a medical condition you could look for a charity which helps people suffering from that condition and see if they offer benefits/welfare help.

I was taken off contribution based ESA in 2014 after my 365 das were up. I have since been surviving on a small pension left to me by my husband.
My condition has got worse and I am having an assessment on friday for PIP because although I had indefinite DLA, I must be reassesed. When can I get a re assessment for ESA or is that it? I was in the WRAG group. I have heard nothing from DWP. Thanks Sue

Hi,

A belated : Welcome to Benefits and Work

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I see that you have one other ESA related topic which I will now merge with this one.

Firstly, have you been financially assessed by DWP ESA to see whether you can pass the Income Related (IR) ESA means test with respect to capital, assets, savings, household income and any hours worked by a partner if you have one !!

24 hour work rule for payment of IR ESA

Asset rule for receipt of IR ESA

This is generally done by you filling in an : (Sample) ESA 3 Form

If you have, and you cannot pass the IR ESA means test due to your pension exceeding the applicable amount of household income allowed for your personal circumstances, you can report a Change of Circumstances (C of C) in writing to DWP ESA to the address of the Benefits Office/Centre on your most recent ESA letter.

Sending Documents to the DWP.

You can do this if your medical conditions have deteriorated or changed to such an extent that you can now qualify for The Support Group (SG) by either fulfilling any one of : The Functional Support Group (SG) (LCWRA) Schedule 3 Activities/Descriptors or if not via that route, under : ESA Reg 35 for entry to The SG (LCWRA)

Reporting a C of C to DWP ESA will result in a new ESA50 being issued, and a totally fresh reassessment which may also involve a face to face assessment.

If you can gain access to The SG as a result of a review due to your reporting a C of C your Contribution Based (CB) ESA payments will be reinstated from the date that you reported the C of C and payment of CB ESA will continue for as long as you remain in The SG.

If you have not already done so, have a read trough our : ESA Claims Guides 2nd & 3rd links down the page, and our : ESA FAQ’s

You can then come back to us if you have any further ESA queries by replying to this topic.

You should Bookmark/Favourite this page in your Internet Browser now. That way you can return to this topic easily to pose any further queries that you may have by replying to the topic.

See : This Topic also !

Thanks in anticipation of your future co-operation in keeping all your ESA related queries to this topic !

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