Income-related / contributions based ESA

Hi CD123

When you were assessed for ESA they would have either put you in the WRAG or SG, if you were put in the WRAG then you can only claim CB ESA for one year after which you go on to IR ESA depending on your personal circumstances.

I'm afraid you have limited right of appeal against the 365 day rule basically there are two options;

1. You argue that you were in the SG and the rule does not apply.

2. You argue that you have not spent 365 days outside of the SG.

I'm afraid I have not seen a single example where the DWP has got these details wrong.

ESA(IR) is dependant on your household income, your savings and assets, and any hours that your partner works, if you have one. See

Asset and savings rule for ESA(IR)

24 hour work rule for ESA(IR)

Your ESA(CB) can only be re-instated if you are placed into the Support Group or you are able to re-meet the Contribution conditions for ESA(CB).

If you believe that you can reasonably show that you met the criteria for the SG when you were placed you in the WRAG then you can request an appeal against that Decision but you will need to be quick as there is an absolute limit of 13 months to make the appeal and you will also need to explain why the request is Late. If successful then the SG rate will be backdated to the date of the original Fit for Work Decision and you will recover the 365 days.

Now for the pension part of your question:

If you are only receiving Contribution Based ESA then a lump sum will not affect your ESA but a regular payment will. If the pension is more then £85/week then there will be a £1/week deduction for every £2 in excess of the £85.

If you are receiving any Income Related ESA, either in part or in whole, then it will affect your ESA.

First, there is an assets and savings rule if you take a lump sum, see

Asset and savings rule for ESA(IR)

Secondly, any regular payments will be deducted £ for £ from any ESA(IR) that you receive.

If the ESA(IR) is fully eroded then you will lose access to passported benefits such as free prescriptions and dental care.

Gary

Hi CD123

The requirement for both legacy Contribution Based ESA and New Style ESA is a minimum of 26 weeks of NI Contributions in one of the two Tax Years 2017-18 and 2018-19 AND at least 50 weeks of NI Contributions or NI Credits in both the Tax Years 2017-18 and 2018-19. There are some exceptions to the First Contribution Condition.

You can check your National Insurance record on GOV.UK. It will say if you have a 'full year' of contributions, and if this comes from employment, self-employment or National Insurance credits.

www.gov.uk/check-national-insurance-record

If you have the necessary NI contributions, you should not have gone from the CB to IR ESA. If at the start of your claim you were placed in the support group, then you should remain on CB ESA until you have been reassessed and either placed in WRAG or found fit for work. The 365 days do not apply if you are placed in the support group. If none of this has happened then you need to contact DWP and request an 'Any Time' review.

Gary

CD

Just to clear this up, if you were placed in the SG from the outset then you retain an entitlement to ESA(CB) so your ESA will be calculated as follows.

- Your ESA will be calculated as it is now with an ESA(IR) payment
- Your pension will be deducted £ for £ from the ESA(IR). If the new amount is less than the amount you would receive with ESA(CB) then you will lose the ESA(IR) and any associated benefits.
- Your ESA(CB) will then be calculated based on your pension minus the additional ESA(IR) that you were entitled to with the £85/week disregard and the £1/week deduction for every £ of pension in excess of the £85.

So as an example.

- Your pension is £150/week
- Your ESA is £140/week consisting of £100 ESA(CB) and £40 ESA(IR).

The pension exceeds your ESA(IR) so the ESA(IR) will cease, the pension taken into account will be reduced by £40 for the ESA(IR) that is not payable leaving £110. The disregard will be applied leaving £25 (£110 - £85) and the deduction will be £12.50/week (£25 / 2).

Gordon