188体育

If you鈥檝e any questions about this leaflet or you need it in Braille, large print, audio or email please contact us on:

• telephone: 0800 169 0310
• textphone: 0800 169 0314
• Welsh language: 0800 328 1744

Calls to 0800 numbers are free from landlines and mobiles.

1. About your ESA claim

1.1 What you鈥檒l be paid when you first make your claim

There are 2 types of ESA:

• Contribution-based ESA
• Income-related ESA

You could get both depending on your circumstances. You only pay tax, if it鈥檚 due, on Contribution-based ESA.

More information about benefits that you pay tax on.

More information on the 2 types of ESA.

When you make a claim for ESA, you鈥檒l normally be paid the assessment rate until we assess how your disability, illness or health condition affects your day to day life.

We鈥檒l pay your ESA payment into the bank or building society account that you told us about when you made your ESA claim. You鈥檒l be paid every 2 weeks.

2. What you need to do

2.1 Sending us your Statements of Fitness for Work

Please keep sending us your Statements of Fitness for Work (sometimes called fit notes, sick notes or medical certificates) until we ask you not to.

You鈥檒l find the postal address at the top of your letters. They could take 7 days to reach us by post. Please don鈥檛 take them into a Jobcentre Plus office.

You may not get your full ESA payments and or National Insurance credits if you don鈥檛 send your statements in on time.

2.2 Tell Jobcentre Plus if anything changes

It鈥檚 important that you tell Jobcentre Plus straight away about any changes that could change the amount of ESA you get.

The quickest and easiest way to do this is to call on 0800 169 0310.

You must let Jobcentre Plus know if:

• your personal details change
• you have a new health condition, or your existing condition gets better or worse
• you or your partner鈥檚 work situation changes
• there are changes to your pension, savings, investments or property
• the amount of money coming into your house changes
• there are changes to who lives in your house
• you are involved in a trade dispute, or cannot work because of a trade dispute
• you go into or leave hospital if your stay is for more than 4 weeks
• you go into prison or legal custody
• you go abroad or are about to go abroad
• your partner dies

If we鈥檝e paid you less ESA than we should, we鈥檒l pay you this money, including any arrears due.

If you don鈥檛 tell Jobcentre Plus straight away if anything changes, then you could be paid the wrong amount of ESA.

You may have to:

• pay back any money you鈥檙e overpaid
• pay a financial penalty
• go to court

More information about benefit overpayments.

3. What happens next

3.1 Your health and work conversation

You may get an appointment to go to a health and work conversation. The health and work conversation is a type of work focused interview. This isn鈥檛 your Work Capability Assessment.

The conversation isn鈥檛 about you looking or applying for work now, it鈥檚 about helping you get into work when you鈥檙e able to in the future. It can help you get to know your work coach and plan simple steps to help build your confidence and motivation.

Your ESA payments may be reduced if you don鈥檛 go to and take part in your health and work conversation, and you don鈥檛 have a good reason.

3.2 Your Work Capability Assessment

The Work Capability Assessment helps us find out how your disability, illness or health condition affects your day to day life, and if you could do some type of work now or in the future. This could include work you haven鈥檛 thought about before.

You鈥檒l need to take part in a Work Capability Assessment to help us decide if you can keep getting ESA. There are 2 stages to the assessment:

Stage 1

We鈥檒l send you a Capability for Work questionnaire (ESA50) a few weeks after you make your claim. You鈥檒l need to fill in the questionnaire and send it back to the Health Assessment Advisory Service. If you need to, you can ask somebody to help you fill it in.

Stage 2

You may be asked to go to a face-to-face appointment with a qualified healthcare professional. This will be either a nurse, a doctor, a physiotherapist or an occupational therapist. To keep getting your ESA payments you鈥檒l have to complete both stages of your Work Capability Assessment if we ask you to.

You can find more information about the Work Capability Assessment, claiming back expenses and .

4. If we can pay you after your Work Capability Assessment

If we can pay you ESA following your assessment, you鈥檒l be placed into one of the following groups. The groups are called the work-related activity group and the support group.

4.1 Work-related activity group

The work-related activity group is for ESA claimants who we accept have limits on things they can do, including working, because of their disability, illness or health condition. You鈥檒l have appointments with a work coach who will agree with you what activities you鈥檒l do. This will help you to have a better chance of moving closer to working when you鈥檙e able to.

There鈥檚 support available to help you get into work when you鈥檙e able to in the future. We can give you support to help you build up your skills, help build your confidence and help you to start thinking about the types of work you could do.

If you don鈥檛 go to your appointments or take part in your agreed activities, your ESA payments could be reduced. We call this a sanction. Your ESA payments could be reduced if you don鈥檛do your work-related activities.

More information about sanctions.

4.2 Support group

Being in the support group means you won鈥檛 have to go to meetings with a work coach or take part in activities to help you get into work.

You don鈥檛 have to look for work or do any work-related activities while you are in the support group but there is support you can get if you wanted to. If you did want to, you could speak with a work coach who can help you get training to learn new skills, or help you write your CV.

A CV shows a possible employer what skills and experience you have.

You may find this support helpful if there鈥檚 a change or improvement in your disability, illness or health condition.

Once you鈥檝e been placed in a group we鈥檒l send a letter to your doctor letting them know we don鈥檛 need any more Statements of Fitness for Work.

5. If we can鈥檛 pay you ESA after your assessment

If we think that your disability, illness or health condition doesn鈥檛 limit your ability to work so much that you can鈥檛 work, we鈥檒l call you to check that we鈥檝e considered all of the available evidence.

If we decide you鈥檙e able to work, we鈥檒l send you a letter letting you know when your ESA payments will stop and why we can鈥檛 keep paying you ESA.

We鈥檒l also send a letter to your doctor letting them know we don鈥檛 need any more Statements of Fitness for Work.

If we decide we can鈥檛 pay you ESA you may be able to get other benefits, including Jobseeker鈥檚 Allowance and Universal Credit.

More information about other benefits.

5.1 If you don鈥檛 agree with our decision not to pay you or with the group you鈥檝e been put in you can ask us to explain why.

You, or someone who has the authority to act for you, can phone or write to us within one month of the date on your decision letter to ask us to explain our decision in writing.

You can also ask us to reconsider our decision.

Tell us if:

• you think we鈥檝e overlooked information
• you鈥檝e more information which may change the decision

You must do this within one month of the date on your decision letter.

When we鈥檝e looked at what you鈥檝e told us, we鈥檒l send you a letter to tell you what we鈥檝e decided and why. We call this letter a Mandatory Reconsideration Notice.

How to appeal

If you disagree with the Mandatory Reconsideration, you can appeal to an independent tribunal. You must wait for the Mandatory Reconsideration Notice before you start an appeal.

More information about appealing a decision.

6. Help to get a job if you鈥檙e disabled

6.1 Work Choice

Work Choice is a programme that can help you get and keep a job if you鈥檙e disabled and find it hard to work. It鈥檚 up to you if you want to take part in Work Choice 鈥� you don鈥檛 have to do it.

Work Choice is run by different providers depending on where you live. The type of support you get depends on the help you need. You don鈥檛 have to be getting benefits to apply for this.

More information about Work Choice.

7. You may be able to work and still claim ESA

7.1 Permitted work

You may be able to do some work and still get ESA payments. This is called permitted work and it lets you:

• work for less than 16 hours each week
• earn up to 拢152.00 every week, after tax
• get your normal amount of benefit
• build up your skills and experience
• do voluntary work 鈥� there is no limit on how many hours a week you can do voluntary work for

From April 2017 there is no limit on the number of weeks you can do permitted work for. Before you start any work, whether paid or unpaid, you must fill in a PW1 and send it to the Jobcentre Plus office that deals with your benefit.

The quickest and easiest way to get a copy of the PW1 is to search for PW1 in the search bar in the top right corner of this page, or call Jobcentre Plus on 0800 169 0310.

Talk to your work coach for more information about permitted work.

You can also search for a job through DWP鈥檚 Find a job.

8. More information

8.1 Other help and support you may be able to get

can help you manage your money. They offer free independent advice about how to make the best of your money, including budgeting, dealing with debt and saving money on your household bills.

Universal Credit has started to replace some benefits with a single monthly payment if you鈥檙e out of work or on a low income. Find out how Universal Credit affects people with a disability or health condition.

Access to Work is a grant that can pay for practical support if you have a disability, or have a physical or mental health condition to help you start or stay in work.

Personal Independence Payment 鈥� PIP is a benefit to help towards some of the extra costs you may have because of your disability or health condition.

Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit is a benefit for people who became disabled due to an accident at work or because of an industrial disease.

Mortgage Interest Payments are payments that could help towards your interest payments.

Child Tax Credits could be paid if you鈥檙e responsible for a child or young person under the age of 20.

Housing Benefit can help to pay the rent for your home.

Council Tax Reduction is help to pay for your council tax.

Help to pay for prescriptions, glasses and dental treatment.

Winter Fuel Payments and Cold Weather Payments 鈥� you may be able to get help with your heating bills.