ESA Claim denied - Not paid NI for 6 years.

Hello everyone, I have been denied ESA, because i haven't paid NI for 7 years due to not working since 2016 when I took early ill health retirement from the Police, I receive a small police pension.

Long story short, I suffer from damaged discs and nerve compression due to injuries on duty, and also severe anxiety and depression due to incidents experienced as a serving officer. The injuries to my spine go back to 2010, and the depression and anxiety to 2013.

I haven't claimed anything since retiring, I did an online eligibility checker just after finishing and this said I was not entitled to anything as I own my house outright and receive a pension of @ £1000 per month.

I haven't worked since 2016, as I am not able to work, due to my conditions, I have seen a number of consultant spinal surgeons and consultant psychiatrists, who clearly report that I am not capable of working.

My partner has been supporting me since I left work, and with my pension, we have just about scraped by with her income from her small business. However, my partner now has to return to her home country to look after her sick father, she is selling her business and I will be left alone to manage, with some support from my daughters.

I have recently had a claim for ESA refused because I have not paid any NI since 2016.

Prior to retiring, I had been paying NI for 28 years since I was 16 or 17 when I first started working.

Does anyone have any advice as to how to challenge this illegibility for ESA, based on not having paid NI?

I am in the process of claiming PIP and IIDB and an Injury on Duty Pension, however, the regulations state that I must claim ESA, and the amount will be deducted from any Injury Pension I may receive.

The regulations also state that I must have gone through the appeals process for ESA, otherwise the amount will be deducted from the Injury Pension, even if my ESA claim is not successful at the first application.

I am working through the guides, I am looking for any advice as to how to appeal the ESA refusal in circumstances where NI hasn't been paid.

I can't work, I haven't worked since 2016 and my partner was supporting me, but that support has now ended. With the price of everything going up and my pension not being index-linked, I am facing severe hardship.

Any advice on appealing the ESA refusal for not paying any NI over the past 7 years will be appreciated.

Thank you so much for the reply.

It is all very confusing, when I called the ESA number, I spoke with a lady who said that I was not eligible for ESA due to the lack of NI payments, she would send a claimant commitment form, which I have signed and sent back.

I then had the letter saying that I do not qualify for ESA due to not paying NI, but then two days later had the ESA 50 claim form through the post. I have now completed that and sent it back.

It seems that the one hand doesn't know what the other is doing.

I will wait and see what happens.

My circumstances are unique, in as much as I am applying for an Injury on Duty Pension from the Police service, the Police Injury Pension regulations state that the amount of ESA and IIDB must be deducted from any Injury Pension. Therefore I have to apply regardless, and if denied by DWP, the amount of the ESA and IIDB cannot be deducted from the Police Injury Pension.

The regulations for the Injury Pension also state that I must go through and exhaust the appeals process, which is a hopeless exercise, which will cause me further anxiety and distress, especially when it is clear that I am not eligible for ESA due to not paying enough NI.

There is no way around it, I have asked for a Mandatory Reconsideration, based on the fact that I worked full-time from age 17 until age 44 when I became injured and unable to work, and I was paying NI for all of those years.

I don't think I will get the award, the process is causing me great distress and exacerbating my anxiety and depression but I will have to wait and see what comes of it all.

Thank you, apologies for late reply, i have not been well