Birth Certificate for ESA

Hi, I am assisting a friendd who has been on JSA and is now applying for ESA. ESA have sent letter requesting he provides is Birth Certificate. can they do this?

They have passport etc.. and of course have paid JSA anyway. He is originally from Australia. Been in uk for 15 years. Worked for 14.5 of those. He does not have his birth cert and obtaining from Australia could prove impossible.

If they are not allowed to do this how can I legally challenging the decision?..Many Thanks Jason

There is no specific obligation to provide a birth certificate, however there is an obligation to provide evidence of eligibility and that may include identity, age, citizenship etc. If a birth certificate cannot be obtained, then if it were me, I'd get a letter on headed notepaper from the relevant authority saying that this is not possible and ask what alternative evidence would be relevant.

Hi Jason

As far as I am aware they would only require a birth certificate to prove your friend's identity, and as you say his passport has already been produced.

I would suggest that you simply inform them of the situation; it may not be an essential document for the claim to be processed.

He should not be refused benefit simply because he cannot provide documents especially when it is unreasonable to produce them. If he is refused benefit for this reason you can ask the decision maker to make a decision and appeal it, but hopefully it won't come to that.

Good luck

Derek