Employment and Support Allowance

Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) replaced Incapacity Benefit and Income Support paid because of an illness or disability from January 2011. You will continue to get Incapacity Benefit if you were receiving it prior to this date.

You may be able to claim ESA if any of the following apply to you:

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 whereas income-related ESA is paid to people depending on their income and savings.

Any savings you have must be less than £16,000 and, if you have a partner or civil partner, they must be working less than 24 hours a week on average. You can only get extra money for your husband, wife or civil partner if you get 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 three days of your claim. These are called waiting days. Then you will get the assessment phase rate while Jobcentre Plus assess 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 will be expected to take part in work-focused interviews with your personal adviser. In return, you will receive a work-related activity component in addition to your basic rate. But if you refuse to take part in work-focused interviews, it may affect your benefit. 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 take part in any work-related activity, 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 .

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 £28.75.

Support Group

If you are placed in the Support Group you will receive a support component of £35.75. 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 re-qualify. 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.

Severe Disablement Allowance and ESA

Severe Disablement Allowance (SDA) was a state benefit for those below the state pension age who were assessed as being unable to work because of illness or disability. It was abolished altogether in 2001 but if you were already getting Severe Disablement Allowance, you carried on getting it.

However, people in receipt of SDA are now required to be re-assessed to see if they are capable of work or eligible for ESA. If the re-assessment shows you’re capable of working, your Severe Disablement Allowance will stop. Jobcentre Plus will then discuss your next steps, including claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance. If the re-assessment shows you can’t work, you’ll be transferred automatically on to ESA.