Permitted work and ESA

Does anyone here have a good experience of doing permitted work and claiming ESA - that is to say that the DWP has not used the work you have done against you in trying to stop your benefits?

My family member has an anxiety condition but has done mostly self employed work for only 4 or 5 hours a week. Ideally they are hoping to do more hours and work in a position where they would have contact with members of the public. My concern is that there is no way the companies the DWP uses for assessments would hear about this work and allow the benefits to continue to be awarded.

There is a long medical history of mental health issues going back 20 years, but it seems like if you want to do more and get back into work you are between a rock and a hard place. I would appreciate any advice if you have done some kind of part time work, and have a positive experience where the DWP didn't try to use it to stop your benefit claim.

Hi Gordon, that isn't the case. The self-employed work was declared. This ended up being used against them when they had an assessment and mandatory reconsideration. In fact it was done to the extent that the DWP even broke their own rules in submitting evidence of that work to a tribunal. Again this was declared work. The issue is if permitted work is used against claimants then you are essentially stuck because any increase in work or more challenging work which is done as a building block towards full time work is then used against you.