Should i receive re ESA

18 months ago i unfortunately lost my business, house and family, during the period up to this date i cash in my pensions to try and keep everthing afloat, needless to say it didnt work.
I now receive £320.00 per month from the pensions

After i lost everthing i lived on the streets for a little while, and now sleeping on a freinds floor, during this time i have been diagnosed with depression, and have been getting sick notes from the doctor.

Initially i filled the forms in for JSA, and after a couple of meetings they transfered me on to ESA, which was approx 6 months ago as i wasnt capable of working. by all acounts this is income related which doesnt mean a lot to me, is there anothe type of ESA

Last week out of the blue i receive a letter stating that i should attend a meeting at the job centre.

The first thing i was asked, was do i know why i am hear, to which i replied "havent a clue"

The next sentance was to inform me that i am not eligble for ESA as i receive the pension, and didnt declare it on the form.

At the time of applying i wouldnt have really known what i was doing. But to cut the long story short. What benifits am i entitled too, i was told at this meeting wasnt able to claim ESA or JSA, and had to paym the money back.

This is the first time i have claimed anything in my life, and really do not know what i am entitled too, all i know is that i am sleeping on some ones floor, and trying to live on approx £80.00 a week.

If it turns out that i am not entitled to anything, how am i supposed to live.

Any help and advice would be gratefully received

buddyric wrote: 18 months ago i unfortunately lost my business, house and family, during the period up to this date i cash in my pensions to try and keep everthing afloat, needless to say it didnt work.
I now receive £320.00 per month from the pensions

After i lost everthing i lived on the streets for a little while, and now sleeping on a freinds floor, during this time i have been diagnosed with depression, and have been getting sick notes from the doctor.

Initially i filled the forms in for JSA, and after a couple of meetings they transfered me on to ESA, which was approx 6 months ago as i wasnt capable of working. by all acounts this is income related which doesnt mean a lot to me, is there anothe type of ESA

Last week out of the blue i receive a letter stating that i should attend a meeting at the job centre.

The first thing i was asked, was do i know why i am hear, to which i replied "havent a clue"

The next sentance was to inform me that i am not eligble for ESA as i receive the pension, and didnt declare it on the form.

At the time of applying i wouldnt have really known what i was doing. But to cut the long story short. What benifits am i entitled too, i was told at this meeting wasnt able to claim ESA or JSA, and had to paym the money back.

This is the first time i have claimed anything in my life, and really do not know what i am entitled too, all i know is that i am sleeping on some ones floor, and trying to live on approx £80.00 a week.

If it turns out that i am not entitled to anything, how am i supposed to live.

Any help and advice would be gratefully received

Hi br,

Welcome to Benefits and Work

I am sorry to hear of your misfortune !!

When a claim for ESA is initially made, The DWP should first investigate whether or not you have the necessary NI Contributions from employment/self employment in the preceding two Tax Years.

As of the 04/01/14 the preceding two years in question would be 2011/12 & 2012/13. So, you would have to work backwards to the start of your ESA Claim to find the relevant two Tax Years in question.

(Tax Years move forward one year from the beginning of January each year.)

If you did have the requisite number of NI Contributions, you would be entitled to Contribution Based (CB) ESA.

If after investigation it was found that you did not have the requisite number of NI Contributions for CB ESA payment, you should then be financially assessed usually in the form of filling in an ESA3 Form. (see older version sample below) :

Sample ESA 3 Form


The ESA 3 should capture all your financial and personal details with respect to household income, capital, assets and saving.

You are then means tested to see whether your level of household income etc,etc falls below the amount allowed for a person of your personal circumstances.

If it does, then you would be entitled to Income Related(IR) ESA.

If it doesn't, and you were not entitled to CB ESA you would not be entitled to any payments, although you may be entitled to NI Credits only which would go towards your State Pension.

With CB ESA there is an £85 disregard rule with respect to any Works/Occupational Pension (OP) that you may be in receipt of.

e.g. OP of £105/Week - £85 disregard = £20 excess.

This excess of £20 is then deducted at a rate of 50% from any weekly entitlement to CB ESA.

Therefore under the above example, as the excess of the £85 is £20/Week you would have 50% of that figure, £10, deducted weekly from any CB ESA entitlement.

However, it seems from your post that your OP is only £80/ Week, so this would not have any effect of CB ESA payments.

However, you would still have to inform The DWP of the OP within the ESA 3 Form.

As for CB ESA, there are no other financial restrictions such has savings household income etc, etc.

For IR ESA all your OP and any other income/savings etc, etc would be counted and if this took you above the permitted amount no IR ESA would be payable.

Asset rule for ESA(IR)

24 hour work rule for ESA(IR)

Also, if you were entitled to CB ESA and were not placed into The Support Group on being assessed, you would only receive payment of CB ESA for 365 days, when you should then be assessed for entitlement to IR ESA :

12 Month Limit for ESA(CB)

Have you actually been assessed under The ESA WCA, filled in an ESA50 Questionnaire, etc ?

See :

ESA Claims Guides

ESA FAQ’s

The ESA rates prior to 07/04/14 and after that date can be seen below :

Benefit Rates

You can also access online benefit calculators below :

Benefits Calculator

Benefits Calculator

As it seems that the DWP are stating that you have received an "overpayment" due to non declaration of your OP, You really need professional face to face advice :

Where to get advice

Or try putting Welfare Rights/Advice for your Town/Postcode into Google.

I hope this helps.

Please reply to this topic if you have any further queries.

bro58