anyway to move from income-esa to contribution esa

When I applied for esa as I had sufficient NI I was put into the contribution based esa but as i was in the work related group it only lasted for 365 days.

of course i should have been put in the support group(which i am now) but due to their poor assessments i wasn't first time around.

I would like to be in the contribution based esa. is there anything i can do as a single person to get in there bearing in mind i dont think i should have ever been in the wrag to begin with?

Hi Amonia,

Your post has me somewhat confused but I will try to explain as best I can!

There are two types of groups related to ESA payments; Contribution based and Income related. A claimant will recieve CB-ESA if they have enough NI contributions and this is limited to 365 days. If there are not enough NI contributions or after 365 days a claimant will have an income assessment and if eligable, will receive IR-ESA regardless of which group they are placed in - WRAG or SG.

Now that you are in the SG, The 365 day limit for CB-ESA no longer apllys

Lisa

Hello Amonia,
Are you sure that you are only receiving income based ESA? Sometimes claimants who have previously been entitled to contributions based ESA may receive an income related top up depending on their personal circumstances.

Sorry, are you saying that regardless of whether I was orignally in the wrag group and then the 365 days expired and I was moved to income based esa, and regardless of whether i have a low savings, by virtue of having been moved to the support group i should by default now be in the contribution based group?

just to add i was very likely in the wrag for over two tax years and since being moved to income based esa i have been on that for some years two so i dont think ni contributions would have built up again, if that is what is needed to renter contribution based esa.