Claiming ESA

Hi
I've been living on money from an inheritance since February last year. Prior to this I'd been receiving income support [I've never been able to work]. My savings are almost down to £6000 and I want to claim ESA, but I'm unsure which claim form I'm supposed to fill in. Someone has told me it's ESA 50, but I thought it was ESA 1 or ESA 3. I'm confused. Can anyone help?
Ian

TheOthers wrote: Hi
I've been living on money from an inheritance since February last year. Prior to this I'd been receiving income support [I've never been able to work]. My savings are almost down to £6000 and I want to claim ESA, but I'm unsure which claim form I'm supposed to fill in. Someone has told me it's ESA 50, but I thought it was ESA 1 or ESA 3. I'm confused. Can anyone help?
Ian

Hi TO,

Welcome to Benefits and Work

If you wish to make a fresh claim for ESA it would be an ESA 1 Form :

www.gov.uk/employment-support-allowance/how-to-claim

You would also need to obtain a MED 3 "Fit Note" (Sick Note) from your G.P.

As it appears that you may not have the necessary NI Contributions/Credits to be entitled to Contribution Based (CB) ESA, you would also have to be financially assessed to see whether you qualify for Income Related (IR) ESA.

You would therefore have to request, fill in and return an ESA 3 Form also, here is a : Sample ESA 3 Form

See also : Asset rule for ESA(IR)

&

24 hour work rule for ESA(IR)

If you are entitled to payment of ESA, you would enter a 13 week assessment phase, and would be payed Assessment Rate of ESA which is currently £71.70 for a single over 25 year old.

Within this assessment phase, you would then be sent an ESA50 Questionnaire, which you would have to complete and return to ATOS.

You can have a look at the interactive version of The ESA50 from the link on this page :

Using The PDF Version Of The ESA50 Questionnaire

As a result of this you may or may not be required to attend a face to face assessment.

There are 3 possible outcomes.

Found fit for work. (This can only happen if a face to face has first taken place)

Placed into The WRAG.

Placed into The Support Group. (SG)

Have a look at this guide :

" Understanding Employment and Support Allowance
Our 42 page introductory guide to ESA."

On this page :

ESA Claims Guides

Please reply to this topic if you have any further queries.

bro58