AM I ELIGIBLE??

Hi All

I hope someone may be able to help me, my health is pretty poor at the best of times. I got shingles a couple of years ago in my ear and neck. I require help day and night but somehow Ive managed to keep my job, but my employer has suggested that I reduce my hours to roughly 15 hours a week as this is what I am averaging in a month.

I recently moved in with my partner, as I need his help as my daughter who was my main helper has gone to university.

My query is, can I claim ESA when Im living with a partner?

Thank you

Hi and Welcome to the forum, you might want to have a look at the following FAQ which explain where everything is

Welcome to Benefits and Work

You might be able to claim ESA but it is not straightforward!

Firstly is the issue of your work - if you work for less than 16 hours per week and earn less than £115.50 then you can claim ESA if the Decision Maker agrees that this can be classed as Permitted Work. I'm afraid there are no exact rules about this, it is decided on a case by case basis. You would have to declare your work at the start of the claim, I don't know whether you would be allowed to average the hours over a month or whether you would not be allowed to claim ESA for any week in which you worked for 16 hours or more..

Permitted Work

Secondly is the fact that you will be moving in with your partner. This will not have any effect if you have paid enough NI contributions in the past few years to qualify for Contributory ESA. However, if not, it is likely that an income-related claim would fail due to your partner's earnings and working hours (if he works for more than 24 hours per week you would be automatically excluded).

ESA claims and appeals

Finally - have you claimed DLA/PIP? This benefit is meant to help with some of the expenses related to long-term disability/illness and is paid to people who have particular care and/or mobility needs. DLA is being phased out, you would have to claim PIP if you are not already on DLA.

PIP help for claimants

I suggest that you have a look through both guides and come back to us when you have decided whether you want to apply for ESA, PIP or both.

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 queries related to this issue in one topic !

Thank you so much for your prompt reply and knowledge, I doubt I'd be eligible for ESA given your advise, and to be honest I'm really not able for protracted fight. I do get the full elements of PIP, this is down to your site and all your information.

I'm having a really bad day, I've taken my morphine etc so please accept my apologies if my message is a little garbled.

Thank you again. Keep up the good work.