Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) is a benefit that can be paid if you are sick or disabled and incapable of work.
There are two types:
- Contributory – this is based on your own personal National Insurance contribution history. For older claims, this is known as contribution-based employment and support allowance but for more recent claims, it is known as New Style ESA.
- Income-related – this is means-tested and based on your circumstances, and those of your partner if you have one. You can no longer make new claims for this type of ESA.
Contribution-based ESA and New-style ESA are based on the National Insurance (NI) contributions that you have personally paid within a set time period. To be entitled, you must have paid enough NI contributions in the relevant years – this means the last two complete tax years before the current benefit year. The current benefit year starts on the first Sunday in January. Therefore the current benefit year started on 7th January 2024, which means the last two complete tax years were 2022/3 and 2021/2. Usually, you will need to have actually worked in one of these years to qualify for New-style ESA (although there are some exceptions).
What if I have savings or other income, will that matter?
It does not matter what other income or savings you have, other than any occupational or personal pension. This may reduce how much contributory ESA you receive, although you will be allowed to "keep" some of your pension before your ESA starts to be deducted.
How long does contributory employment and support allowance last?
Contributory ESA can be paid for up to 365 days as long as you are accepted as being incapable of work and are placed in the work-related activity group after the assessment period, which should be the first 13 weeks of your claim. Time spent in the support group does not count towards the 365 day time limit and therefore if you are in the support group, you will be able to receive contributory ESA for longer.
What if I have not paid enough national insurance?
Some people may be eligible to make a ‘credits only’ claim for New Style ESA. This means you would not receive any money but would have credits added to your National Insurance record for each week you are entitled. This helps with entitlement to other benefits, such as your State Pension, in the future. You may be able to claim Universal Credit if your income and savings are low enough.
Some people are able to receive both contributory and income-related ESA. Eventually, the income-related ESA they receive will be replaced by Universal Credit.
