Should I apply for ESA?

[SKT2000]

My position is that at 65 I am unemployed after being made redundant earlier this year. I'm currently living off my modest savings/pension pot but don't have enough to keep me going for the next 22 months until I can draw the state pension. I have also had to accept that due to various health conditions there are no jobs that I would be physically capable of doing even if I could persuade an employer to take me on so it looks like my only option is to claim ESA. I've seen that I can apply online but would then need to have an interview with a Work Coach and sign a claimant commitment.

Having never claimed benefits before my question is how sympathetic is a Job Centre Advisor/Work Coach likely to be to a woman in my position? As a rather proud, independent and private person the idea that I may have to jump through hoops to claim less than £100 a week fills me with dread. Will the process be awful?

Are your savings are, at present, too high for you to get Universal Credit?

Assume you meet the NI Contribution condition for ESA - broadly need to have worked and either paid or been credited with NI Conts for last 2-3 years.

I think ESA is less heavy about Claimant Commitments then UC but they're still required. Once you've claimed it you'll need to provide a 'fit note' and that will trigger a Work Capability Assessment.

Three possible outcomes (1) Fit for work, (2) Not fit for work but might be able to get back into workforce with the right support or (3) Unable to work or do work related activity.

Only the latter gets extra cash. I think the second now only gets ESA for a year rather then it being open ended but not 100% sure.

Job coaches are usually the one you're allocated - can be male or female. If there's some reason to do with your circumstances or the nature of your health conditions that mean you prefer a female you can ask for that as a Reasonable Adjustment.

I claimed ESA.

at the initial phone interview they listened to my list of health conditions and then said I’d need to sign the claimant commitment to keep them updated but they didn’t think a work coach was appropriate and then passed me onto the next stage of form filling.

i got contributory esa immediately and once the form (long and involved) was done i was placed in the LWCA group (the not capable of work group).

no contact since (two years ago).

I now also get pip (basically same process as esa) and am
medically retired and get my private pension.

Thank-you for your reply. That's what I'd ideally like to happen.

Thank-you for your reply,

No my savings aren't too high for UC but I house share with another person. I know how difficult, and intrusive, it would be trying to prove that is what we are just house mates rather than a cohabiting couple so for that reason I wouldn't even consider claiming UC.

Yes I meet the NI criteria for ESA and for the full pension when I eventually get to 67. I think I've got 47 full years of contributions.

I'd be hoping for option 3 from your list. I'm too old and grumpy to engage with option 2 so I'd close the claim at that point.

@SKT2000 do you pay rent?

No the home is owned and pay full council tax. I won't be looking for any CT benefit for the reason I explained above

What job were you doing before you were made redundant? You were presumably able to do that job despite your health conditions so why not look for a similar role?

Was concerned that if you paid rent then by not claiming UC you would lose out significantly as that's now the only route for help with rent. Would have suggested approaching Help to Claim for advice on the couple/house share issue but agree it's not worth hassle for the handful of coins per month you'd be better off on UC.

The last job which I was doing for the previous 3 years was rather unique and the easiest job I've ever had. If there was another job like that I'd certainly be applying but I've never seen another one like it. Plus my health certainly declined over those years.

Before that I must have had well over a dozen jobs in my life but I wouldn't physically manage any of those now.

I guess your question is the kind I'll be asked when I get interviewed by the DWP so I wonder if that response would be satisfactory?

I imagine it’s the type of question you will be asked, yes.
Is working from home an option?
part time work?
what support would you need to get back into the workforce?

You will need a fit note from your gp. And you will need to explain on the form why you are unable to work. Not disimilar to the form to claim PIP. The DWP will decide from that whether to put you in the employability or support group. In the employability group is for temporarily disabled people who could get back into work so they are expected to volunteer or retrain to help get them back into work. The support group is for those who have a long-term condition that will not improve and can not work.

Yes I would/could work from home if I were to find something I could do but as I'm not trained for any specific home working role what employer would train someone of my age.

I've only been working P/T for several years due to health issues so I wouldn't be able to consider anything that needed more than 16-20 hours anyway. I have been managing on that earned income but obviously haven't got lots of savings behind me.

Support to get back into workforce? Ha a magic wand.

I guess I'll be asked all those questions and that's what would put me off claiming anything. I don't want to be ageist but if it was someone in their 20's doing the asking it would really rub me up the wrong way.

You can but it stops at 67.

I wasn’t asked a lot of questions about work although they did ask why I’d left.

(I’d had a serious MH episode documented by my psychiatrist and both the school and myself felt I wasn’t safe in school any more)

The age of the person asking the questions is completely irrelevant. Surely you understand if you want to claim x you must satisfy the relevant criteria to be awarded x and questions will be asked and evidence no doubt provided to determine this.

ESA is paid where the claimant has a disability or health condition affecting their ability to work. The assessment is essentially a functional test of what you can, or rather cannot, do:

https://benefitsandwork.co.uk/employment-and-support-allowance/take-the-esa-tes

If, after that, you're found to be in the intermediate group then it's likely there would be some exploration of what the claimant might be able to do so that support is correctly focussed. I don't see it as being like JSA, or UC where you're in the all work group, where they're trying to match you roles etc.

Also, being pretty cynical, given that @SKT2000 says she's 65 and that the WCA process usually takes longer then the assumed three months I wonder how much effort DWP would put into the work focussed activity the prescribe for somebody witihn 18 months of pension age.

I have recently started a claim for ESA.
I was made redundant whilst pregnant last year and since I have become too unwell to work or look for work. I developed complications in pregnancy and they have left me with extreme fatigue and I have bipolar am in a severe depressive episode.

I filled in an online form and sent them a copy of a sick note I got from my GP signing me off as unable to work for 3months and they sent me a paper form to fill about how various day to day things are impacted and what I can do. I also sent a 7 day diary about how much fatigue and depression impact me on a day to day basis. They have started payments at the standard rate, back dated to the date I started the online form. I haven't heard back from them about this yet. I had a phone call from a support worker to outline their expectations of me. As I was signed off as being unable to work the only expectation was for to keep my sick note up to date and inform them if my situation changes.

They will take you through UC anyway, its fairly simple. I managed to open a single claim when seperated from my ex but co habiting. Even on the very little chance they turned up at the door, seperate bedrooms and seperate finances is what they are looking for primarily.

@CombatBarbie edited to add separate finances while I was reading.

Plenty of us in long term enduring relationships have seperate rooms and I dare say there are long dead relationships where a bed is shared....

As well as ESA consider PIP. Important if you have problems with mobility because attendance allowance the pension age disability benefit has no mobility component

www.citizensadvice.org.uk/benefits/sick-or-disabled-people-and-carers/pip/before-claiming/check-you-are-eligible/

Well yes I know, and there are many abusing the system but it is possible to make a claim whilst still cohabiting with an ex. But the op is single, shared houses are a thing, if she needs what shes entitled to then she should claim.