princess
Contribution Based ESA is liable to tax, Income Related ESA is not.
The first thing I would suggest you do is find out whether you actually owe the tax.
If you do then you should pay it as I don't believe that any account is taken (regarding Income Tax), as to who's fault the error is.
Although the amount is relatively small, you may want to get face to face advice. See
Where to get advice? Gordon
