Would DH qualify for sickness benefits?

[LovelyBath77]

I wondered if he would qualify for ESA if his illness gets worse (he is self employed but has a chronic illness). he gets carer's credit (earns over the threshold for carer's allowance) and I'm not sure if that means he would qualify for cont based ESA or not.

I have researched online but it seems vague- usually needs Class 1 conts or can be for carer's too (carer's allowance seemed to count?)

Or if not income based ESA? - not sure either as we also got PIP and cont based ESA for me, and qualify for family tax credits. (I think working tax would go if he wasn't working)

Any advice welcome. Thanks

Carer's credit wouldn't qualify him for cont based ESA as it only covers class 3 credits (contributes to pension but not ESA). Carer's allowance pays class 1 contributions and would count towards cont based ESA if he'd claimed that. If he has paid class 2 contributions he would qualify - he needs about 2 years of contributions.

If your income went down due to him stopping working, he could apply for carers allowance and an income support top up, or he could go on your ESA claim and get an income based top up. You probably need a CAB to go over your case in detail because it depends a lot on the nature of his NI contributions and how the different elements of your income interact.

They are increasingly cross checking people claiming ESA and carers allowance. You have to be very careful that you do not do something in a caring role for someone else that you then claim not to be able to do yourself. Under Universal credit I don't think you can claim both elements.