I returned the dreaded questionair at the beginning of nov and i received a letter back last week saying they have reviewed my claim and that i am entited to esa from april till 28 nov, this was exactly the same letter i received when i had to fill the form in in april. Does anybody know if this now means my esa will now stop, i have been trying to call them to try to find out put can never get through
A worried Jenny
This could be referring to the 12 month rule.
If you are in the WRAG you are only entitled to contribution based ESA for 12 months. At the end of that time you have to transfer to income based ESA. Income based benefits are based on your personal circumstances. If you have savings over £16,000 or a working partner you would not be eligible. If you are single with no savings you just need to ask DWP to send you a financial circumstances form. You don’t have to do anything with regards to your ESA just show that you have no other means.
Jane
i got caught out on this, i was on contibution based esa and after 12 months they stopped it without telling me and the only way i found out was by letter 5 days later, they said if i wanted i could go on income based esa and that i would have to ask for the forms n that it would take 4 working days for them to make the decision, it took them a month to let me know that they decided (oh lucky me) that they would let me start having income based esa, id watch out for them to stop payment then get the forms and get them on the phone as often as possible to chase them up or they will take there sweet time by making you wait aslong as possible