Questions on ESA and related

I was looking at the list of benefit price changes (PDF) for this coming April, and it made me wonder about a few things.

1. Benefit wise I have only ever claimed ESA, for the last decade or so due to a long term illness. Is Income Support part of the same thing ? Or is that on top of ESA ? All I remember back at the start of my IB claim I was told something about not having enough stamps for IS, so would that mean it does normally go on top ?

2. Do DWP pay my weekly stamps for me while I am on ESA ? Or are just none paid ?

3. Is it true the difference between WRAG and Support Group is only £7 a week ? Obviously anything extra is nice, just seems an odd amount.

4. I am supposedly on ESA support for another 30 months before a new assessment, what happens when Universal Credit comes in before then ? Does this yet again change things ?

5. Maximus are supposedly going to go from the same guides and instructions as ATOS did. so what exactly will be the difference ? If they are not the DM then surely they will be identical to ATOS in their operations ?

Thanks for your help and sorry for all the questions. This is a great site and has been invaluable to me for advice over the last 5 years.

Benson wrote: I was looking at the list of benefit price changes (PDF) for this coming April, and it made me wonder about a few things.

1. Benefit wise I have only ever claimed ESA, for the last decade or so due to a long term illness. Is Income Support part of the same thing ? Or is that on top of ESA ? All I remember back at the start of my IB claim I was told something about not having enough stamps for IS, so would that mean it does normally go on top ?

2. Do DWP pay my weekly stamps for me while I am on ESA ? Or are just none paid ?

3. Is it true the difference between WRAG and Support Group is only £7 a week ? Obviously anything extra is nice, just seems an odd amount.

4. I am supposedly on ESA support for another 30 months before a new assessment, what happens when Universal Credit comes in before then ? Does this yet again change things ?

5. Maximus are supposedly going to go from the same guides and instructions as ATOS did. so what exactly will be the difference ? If they are not the DM then surely they will be identical to ATOS in their operations ?

Thanks for your help and sorry for all the questions. This is a great site and has been invaluable to me for advice over the last 5 years.

Hi B,

I will try to answer your questions :

1. Income Support (IS) is/was a benefit paid to someone who did not have the necessary NI Contributions (Stamps) from employment to qualify for a Contributory Benefit.

IS is not paid with ESA, this has been replaced with Income Related (IR) ESA.

If you were ever in receipt of Incapacity Benefit, (IB) as this is a Contributory Benefit, you must have had enough NI Contributions gained from employment at the start of your IB claim.

Therefore, IS is not applicable at all for ESA recipients.

Some claimants who are still, who were in receipt of IB are/were also entitled to IS top-ups to their IB, due to their personal and financial circumstances.

The equivalent claimant on ESA would receive Contribution Based (CB) ESA with Income Related (IR) ESA top-ups.

If you are in receipt of ESA, then you should receive the small annual rise.

You couldn't have been claiming ESA " for the last decade or so" as it has only been in existence since 2008.

If you were transferred over from IB to ESA, have a read through our :

IB, IS, SDA, Migration to ESA FAQ’s


2. Yes, you will receive a weekly NI Credit from the DWP whilst claiming ESA. This goes towards your State Pension entitlement.

See : State Pension Eligibility.


3. Yes, the current differential between The Support Group (SG) Component and The WRAG Component of ESA is £7/Week.

However, claimants may receive more than the stipulated amount if they are entitled to IR ESA top-ups as previously mentioned.

The main advantages of being in The SG rather than the WRAG (Besides the extra money) Is that you can not be compelled to take part in any Work Related Activity, (WRA) and there is no 365 days limit to payment whilst you are in The SG :

12 Month Limit for ESA(CB)

4. I wouldn't worry about UC, it will not affect you in the mid term.

Have a look at : This Topic.

If/when the times comes for existing IR ESA recipient to be transferred over to UC, we will provide guidance. (CB ESA only recipients will not be transferred to UC)

5.Maximus have been given the contract by The DWP to take over all Medical Services from ATOS for The ESA Works Capability Assessment. (WCA)

The software used and the qualifying criteria have not changed.

From what we know, Maximus are simply recruiting all the existing ATOS Assessors en-mass.

The final decision will still be made by The DWP ESA Decision Maker.

So, as you say, there will probably not be a great deal of change.

Maximus have stated that they intend to improve the way that the WCA is carried out and administered, we will have to wait and see.

Hope this answers your queries.

bro58