About 100,000 ill and disabled
people will lose their Employment and Support Allowance on 30 April 2012.
From that date a new time
limit will apply to the Employment and Support Allowance which is paid on the basis
of National Insurance contributions. It is called contributory ESA. At the moment it can be paid indefinitely. In future the allowance, worth £99.15 a week, will stop after
one year.
The one year time limit will
apply at once to an estimated 100,000 people who have already been on
contributory ESA for at least a year. Another 100,000 will lose it by April
2013.
The number affected will grow by about
200,000 a year. By 2015/16 a total of 700,000 people on contributory ESA
will have lost it when they reached the one year time limit. The Government
estimates the net savings to the Treasury will be £1 billion in 2014/15.
More detail
Employment and Support
Allowance is paid to people who are too ill or disabled to work. It was introduced in October 2008 to replace Incapacity Benefit. Everyone on Incapacity Benefit is
being reassessed and put into one of two ESA groups.
The time limit applies to
people in what is called the Work Related Activity Group (WRAG). They have been
assessed as able to return to work with some help. The time limit does NOT apply to those
in the Support Group who are not expected to return to work because their
condition is long-term and severe.
The time limit applies to ESA
which is based on National Insurance contributions (contributory ESA). It does
NOT affect the means-tested (income-related) ESA paid to those with a low income.
The time limit includes the 13
weeks spent in the assessment phase at the start of the claim for ESA when
people are allocated to the work group or the support group.
Can you get money from other sources?
If you are due to lose ESA you
should have been sent a letter by the DWP. It is very important to check if you
can replace at least some of the ESA you will lose.
1. Can you claim
income-related ESA? That is based on your income and savings and if you have a
partner on theirs as well. You cannot get income related ESA if your partner
works more than 24 hours a week or if their income is too high or your joint savings are
more than £16,000. The Government
estimates that 60% of those who lose contributory ESA will be able to get at
least some income-related ESA. Income-related ESA has no time limit. If you get
income-related ESA you may be able to get some help with mortgage
payments.
2. Can you get your council
tax reduced through Council Tax Benefit? If you pay rent can you get that
reduced through Housing Benefit? If you already get either of those benefits
they should go up when your ESA goes and your income is reduced. But that will only happen if you
tell the council which pays them about your drop in income.
3. Can your partner get
Working Tax Credit? If you have no children your partner must normally work at least 30
hours a week to get Working Tax Credit. But if they are over 60 or qualify for disability element that is just 16 hours a week. If you have children then your partner
must normally work at least 24 hours a week (assuming you do not work at all). But that may be reduced to 16 hours for a variety of reasons including your own health. Get advice. If your
partner already gets tax credits make sure you report your reduced income when
ESA stops. Your partner's tax credit should then increase.
The Government estimates that
claiming extra from these other benefits will reduce the average loss for those
who lose from the full £99.15 a week to about £52 a week.
Where to get help
You can get help and advice
from your local Citizen's Advice Bureau. Your local council may have a welfare
rights office, though these have been cut back recently. You can also enquire at your local JobCentrePlus. Or you can work out
your own entitlement at www.entitledto.com. That takes you to the website of
www.turn2us.org.uk and you can call them on 0808 802 200. The organisation Disability
Rights UK may be able to help through its website or publications www.disabilityrightsuk.org/about.htm
The Government published some
information on the impact of the Welfare Reform Act on disabled people which
you can find through this page www.dwp.gov.uk/policy/disability/welfare-reform-bill-2011-and-disabled. Many of the figures in this blog are taken from the estimates in those documents.