Employment and Support Allowance


[ch 3: pages 51-53]

Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) replaced Incapacity Benefit and Income Support paid because of an illness or disability from January 2011 (see information on reassessment for Incapacity Benefit claimants on page 44). 


You may get ESA if you have an illness or disability that affects your ability to work, and you are:


• under State Pension Age; 


• not getting Statutory Sick Pay or Statutory Maternity Pay and you haven’t gone back to work; 


• not getting Jobseeker’s Allowance. 


There are two types of ESA. People receive contribution-based ESA if they have limited capability for work and have paid enough National Insurance Contributions (NICs), whereas income-related ESA is paid to people on low incomes.


Any savings you have must be less than £16,000. If you have a partner, your benefit may be paid at the “couples rate”. If your partner is living with you and working, how much they earn could affect your income-related ESA. 


How does it work?


ESA consists of two phases — the assessment phase and the main phase. In most cases, if you qualify for ESA you will not get any money for the first seven days of your claim. These are called waiting days. Then you will get the assessment phase rate while the Jobcentre assesses your ability to work.


The assessment phase rate is paid for the first 13 weeks of your claim while a decision is made on your capability for work through the Work Capability Assessment. The main phase rate starts from week 14 of your claim, if the Work Capability Assessment shows that your illness or disability does limit your ability to work.


There are two groups within the main phase:


Work-Related Activity Group


If you are placed in the Work-Related Activity Group you must attend regular interviews with an advisor. In return, you will receive a work-related activity component in addition to your basic rate. But if you refuse to take part in these interviews, your ESA can be reduced for up to four weeks after you restart the interviews. The Welfare Reform Act 2012 implemented a one-year time limit on payment of contributory ESA for people in the Work-Related Activity Group. 


Support Group


If you are placed in the Support Group because your illness or disability has a severe effect on your ability to work, you will not be expected to attend interviews, but you can do so on a voluntary basis if you want to. You will receive a support component in addition to your basic rate.


How much can you get? 


The assessment phase 


During the assessment phase you are paid a “basic allowance”. This is set at a similar level to that of Jobseeker’s Allowance. If you are aged under 25 you will receive a reduced rate of this basic allowance. 


The reduction for under 25s does not apply once they have completed the assessment period.


If you are on contribution-related ESA you will get: 


under 25 £57.90
 age 25 and over £73.10


If you are on income-based ESA the maximum you can get is:


single and under 25 £57.90
 single and age 25 and over £73.10
 lone parents age 18 and over £73.10 
 couples age 18 and over £114.85 


After the assessment phase you may receive one of two additional payments depending on whether you are placed in the Work-Related Activity Group or the Support Group.


Work-Related Activity Group 


If you are placed in the Work-Related Activity Group you will receive a work-related activity component of £29.05.


Support Group


If you are placed in the Support Group you will receive a support component of £36.20. If you are terminally ill this component will be paid to you during the assessment phase. 


Impact of the Welfare Reform Act 2012 on ESA


The Welfare Reform Act 2012 limited the amount of time people who are not in the Support Group can claim contribution-based ESA to up to one year without having to requalify. The Act also removed the special contribution conditions that allowed people aged between 16 and 20 (or under 25 if in education or training at least three months immediately before turning 20) to receive contribution-based ESA without paying National Insurance contributions. 


In addition, previously when a claimant left ESA and started work or training within one month, their benefit would have been reinstated at the same rate as previously paid, if they returned to ESA within 104 weeks. However, to coincide with the changes brought by time-limiting contribution-based ESA, the 104-week linking rule was abolished by separate regulations. This means if you want to claim ESA and it is more than 12 weeks since your award of ESA ended, your claim will not link to your earlier award.


The Welfare Reform and Work Act 2016 includes the abolition of the Work-Related Activity Component of ESA, currently worth £29.05 (see above). Although the House of Lords opposed the change, the government eventually succeeded in getting it through and is aiming to save £640 million a year by 2020-21 by abolishing the component for new claims. From 1 April 2017, new ESA claimants who are placed in the Work-Related Activity Group will receive the same rate of payment as those claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance and the equivalent in Universal Credit. 


Severe Disablement Allowance and ESA


Severe Disablement Allowance (SDA) has been replaced with ESA but if you were already getting SDA, you carried on getting it.


However, people in receipt of SDA are now required to be reassessed to see if they are capable of work or eligible for ESA. This may include a face-to-face work capability assessment (WCA). If the reassessment shows you are capable of working, your SDA will stop. The Jobcentre will then discuss your next steps, including claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance. If the reassessment shows you can’t work, you will be transferred automatically on to ESA.


Your claim will not be reassessed if you will reach State Pension Age before 6 April 2014.