Esa cb confusion

Brightskies2009 wrote: Afternoon all. Haven't posted for a long time but reading a lot.

I may sound a bit dim, my apologies but can you clarify please:

if someone gets ESA cb for 365 , does this mean they have to claim ESA AGAIN after this time. I am wondering if this is the case for folks who are only in the WRAG group. I am still awaiting my decision and in the support group at the moment.

Thanks

The 365 day rule only affects claimants receiving ESA(CB) who have been in the WRAG for the full 365 day period.

In principle, you can make a new claim for ESA(CB). It must be seperated from the previous claim by a minimum of 12 weeks or it will be classed as a continuation of the original claim and refused, and you will need to re-meet the NI Contribution requirements with the additional requirement that one of the years used must be later than that used on any previous claim.

In reality this means that most claimants will not satisfy the test,if you were transferred from IB you will not be able to meet the requirement, nor will you if you have been receiving for more than a couple of years, it could also be affected by the time of year you made your original claim.

However, many claimants will also meet the eligibility criteria for Income Related ESA, which has no time restrictions, and will therefore be able to continue with their payments.

Gordon