Hi all,I’m after some advice,I’m currently employed,claiming esa and have been off sick for a year…just been told as if 1st March my employment will be terminated…(which is fair enough,I’m surprised they kept me that long lol)
i will not be going back to work due to ill health,(ms and arthritis)
my question is,what happens to the esa??
What do I claim for next,I’ll be unfit for work/ long term sick etc
will we be worse off than on esa… I just can’t find any answers,I presume some of you’s have followed the same sort of path…?
So basically,when work and esa ends and your not going back to work,what happens next,and are we going to be worse off ??
Employment and Support Allowance is normally what people claim when they are unable to work due to health issues.
So I imagine that once your paid sick leave ended (ie from your employer), you received Statutory Sick Pay for about 6 months. When that ran out, you’d be moved onto ESA. That should continue.
Although if you haven’t already, you will have to complete an ESA50 form, also known as a Work Capability Assessment. Once you’ve filled that in, you are likely to have to attend a one to one assessment.
Completion of the ESA50 can take quite some time, and can be a big problem for many people. You also need to send as much evidence as possible to back up your claim. This can be letters from your neurologist, orthopaedic specialist, MS nurse, anyone else who can write explaining your symptoms.
Hi Fletch What happens is that you will get an appointment with an assessor, who will ask you questions on your mobility your health in general what you can do what you can’t. Be careful because they ask questions like can you walk to a local shop. Can you dress, wash on your own. Marking you on your answers.
This was new to me I had just diagnosed with cealaic was still get getting better but didn’t know how to answer the questions. Thinking that she was asking about before things went south. You will find that you get a judgment where you either pass and go on the sick for longer, if not you can appeal and go to citizen advice bureau they will help you answer the questions in a different way.
They do say though you will not go through and you will have to answer them again in another appeal then they look at it with different eyes and you might get through. I went through it but wasn’t successful. While you appeal you still stay on ESA until then.
I have let the job centre know what is happening to but they say why haven’t you signed off ??? As yet I don’t know anything yet and don’t want to sign off, I want a job, not sitting around feeling sorry for my self. I want to keep going as long as possible. I haven’t as yet been diagnosed with anything and don’t even know what I have. Good look
They have members only guides to ESA and PIP. They charge about £20 per year for membership, but it is really worth it.
The guides go through the whole form, question by question and give good examples of how to phrase your answers. They also have information about one to one assessments, as well as requesting a mandatory reconsideration and preparing for appeal, if you need to go that far.
Honestly, the guides are well worth investing the membership fee for.
It’s so much less stress to just go through the whole thing once, rather than again and again (for reconsideration and appeal).