ESA cont based

Hi lorrainevb,

Unfortunately there is a lot of incorrect information online regarding the necessity of having done some work to qualify for New Style ESA. This is not the case as the ESA reg.9 states there is a Relaxation of the First Contribution Condition.
www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2013/379/regulation/9/made
"was entitled to a carer’s allowance in the last complete tax year immediately preceding the relevant benefit year" .
......and
"Relaxation of the frst contribution condition
41032 [See DMG memo 12/23] The frst contribution condition is taken to be satisfed1
if
1. the claimant has paid Class 1 or 2 contributions for any one tax year before the relevant beneft week2
and
2. the claimant has
2.1 earnings at the LEL in that tax year on which Class 1 contributions have been paid or treated as
paid which in total, and disregarding any earnings which exceed the LEL for that year, are not less
than the LEL multiplied by 263 or
2.2 earnings factors in that tax year derived from Class 2 contributions multiplied by 264 and
3. the claimant
3.1 was entitled to CA in the last complete tax year immediately before the relevant beneft year in
which the frst day of LCW occurred5 "
assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6...db/dmg-vol8-ch41.pdf

So I would phone ESA again and quote the passage above and the page no. 12 of DMG Chapter 41: ESA - conditions of entitlement.

David

Hi lorrainevb,

As I have previously indicated the answer is yes but that isn't sufficient for the DWP telephony agent. The DMG stands for Guide for Decision Makers and is written by the DWP. So you need to quote the passage that she "3.1 was entitled to Carer's Allowance in the last complete tax year immediately before the relevant beneft year in
which the first day of LCW occurred"
DWP Benefit years start from the first Sunday in January and HMRC Tax years start on the 5 April. If she was in receipt of Carer's Allowance for 4 years continuously prior to being awarded LCW then she will qualify.
It must though be Carer's Allowance not just the Carer's Credit. She would have been given a Class I NI credit for the Carer's Allowance during the 4 years.
If the phone agent says they cannot verify whether there was a Credit added to her NI account. Then they need to check on their IT system called CIS Searchlight which will confirm how many years she received Carer's Allowance.

David