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Paula

Employment support allowance

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Yes i have been transferred from Incapacity and income support as they phasing it away. I sent mine with medical notes from doctor supporting my application and I didn't have to attend a medical and got placed in the support group and not work related because im not capable of working as they know i can only volunteer.

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that can cover the cost of food and towards the bills such as electric, gas and all that. my housing benefit covers my rent but my contribution covers the bills such as electric, and all that but also my phone and all that

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No personal experience of this but others might. Just wanted to say it's good to see you back ! :) How are things with your son?

 

K x

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I have just done my son's ESA claim for the third time. He had to go to a medical the first time, but the second time he didn't. He is in the WRA group, which is right for him.

 

I hate doing the forms - they are worse than DLA and are not really written appropriately for people with ASD.

 

Last time they did cross check his ESA claim with what we had put on his DLA form.

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"Last time they did cross check his ESA claim with what we had put on his DLA form."

 

Eeek not sure what i think of this, so if you put something very different on 1 form it impacts on the other?

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Its years since i filled in the dla form for him cant remember what i put on it ive only ever had to fill one in twice in the past 18 years...........i was advised that if say he didnt for some reason get emplyment support allowance then hed just claime the Job seekers ............ill just have to see what happens.......

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Hi Paula what happened regarding your son did he get employment support allowance or job seekers?

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Sorry havent been on the site for a while............my son was awarded the employment support allowance..........wed to get a medical certificate from his GP but that wasnt a problem shes known him since birth and has known me for over 20 years.We had to fill in some other sort of form around a month ago also it was an indepth thing about how his disability effects him,whether he can read and write day to day stuff.........not heard anything back from that ..........

 

Hardest thing is that basically were in limbo.............he goes to a social group on a Thursday for young adults with learning disailities and he realy enjoys it but the rest of the time theres nothing for him........he was invovled with real emplyment but apart from it being somewhere for him to get a cup of tea they couldnt realy help to find work.......only work he could do was charity shops voluntary againe he did this but the people in there only allowed him to shake a can and do nothing else.........he was fed up to the back teeth hes got aspergers hes not braine dead i thought...........we look every day for paide work anything but theres nothing he could even apply for not unless he was supported.............

 

Hes happy enough i try to keep him busy with the dog,getting out most days helping me.............I dont want to make him feel like hes failed in someway.....because he hasnt....its hard enough for any young person to find work let alone someone who is going to need a lot of extra support and what he can do is limited...........it took a freind of mines asperger son 7 years to get a cleaning job for one hour a day..........

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Pleased you got ESA awarded for your son.

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Just heard that my son has been put in the WRAG of ESA again. It will not be reviewed again for two years. It has taken them 16 weeks to make a decision, but we did not have to go for a medical.

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Sorry havent been on the site for a while............my son was awarded the employment support allowance..........wed to get a medical certificate from his GP but that wasnt a problem shes known him since birth and has known me for over 20 years.We had to fill in some other sort of form around a month ago also it was an indepth thing about how his disability effects him,whether he can read and write day to day stuff.........not heard anything back from that ..........

 

Although your son has been put on ESA at the moment (on the initial "waiting for a decision" rate), his award will not be confirmed until they make a decision based on the form you filled in/a medical. Please do find out more about the process, as it is very complicated and you don't want to get it wrong. www.benfitsandwork.co.uk is a very helpful web-site for ESA.

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I would recommend that if there is any benefits advice centre that you visit them and get their advice on filling out this form.

 

Basically you need 15 points to be deemed unable to work.

 

You need someone to explain what the descriptors are, and what points each section gets, and how you can explain your difficulties relating to the descriptors.

 

I used to be on Incapacity Benefit. I have been assessed and told that I receive no points whatsoever at all for the health conditions I have.

 

I have spoken with the benefits advice centre in our city and they have prepared an appeal for me to sign and send off.

 

But basically the descriptors are so basic that most people who are not bed ridden would pass them. However, there are ways that you can meet the descriptors. For example for one of my health problems I have fibromyalgia. So although I maybe able to life a litre of milk, or walk for 50metres or more on one day, I may not be able to do it consistently.

 

I also have a repeitive strain injury, carpel tunnel syndrome, tennis and golfers elbow [not that I ever played tennis or golf]. So although I can pick up a coin, or life a telephone receiver, I cannot do it repetitively. And so I have been told I may fit the descriptor. But it would all need to go to appeal.

 

When you lodge an appeal you continue on a certain rate of benefit [again check what that would be because it depends on what you were receiving before].

 

Appeal dates are about a year in advance because so many people are appealing. And you can withdraw the appeal at any stage.

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Also your appeal is heard on medical conditions at the time of the assessment. So you cannot go to the appeal with 'new' information. You can only apply again. However you can get access to information about your existing conditions at the time of the assessment.

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I presume ESA isn't a benefit for and 18 yr old who is autistic am I right? although Glen is in a care home he is still in education there until he is 19 and I'm wondering what happens after then. Would he go onto income support as at the moment I have no idea what benefits he could receive once he's 19 especially as he's in a care home. If anyone can enlighten me that would be great, thanks!

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Quoting from my wife letter, If you are on Incapacity Benafit, Severe Disabiemant Allowance or Income Support on grownds of illness or disability you will be assess for Emplyment and support allowance.

 

They will then decide if you are entitaled to ESA, and if so which group you go into. Those not fit to work or those who with support could work. There are verius rules on benafits depending on what benafit your on to start with.

 

As far as I know someone like your Glen would have been on income support so I dont know how it will work for him.

 

With my wife its not that she could not do a job, its that there are not any jobs she could do. Well there are but after 12 years of looking she has just about given up on the idea of ever getting a real job again. Over that time I cant remeber the number of back to work type schemes she has been on, all to no avail.

Edited by chris54

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Good luck to anyone appealing their ESA. From my signature you can see I have many disabilities and Im also dreading the brown envelope on my door mat.

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Hi Chris thanks for your info regarding this benefit,it would make more sense if glen went onto income support as it is highly unlikely that he would ever be able to work. Thanks again!

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Income support is also being phased out as part of the benefit shake up so your son wont go on income support.

Hopefully he will end up in the support group which are for people unlikely to be able to work.

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My son was on IB and about 4 weeks ago we got a letter saying about him being transferred to ESA, we got the phone call but we have not recieved the questionaire yet. I have just had a phone call from a DR at ATOS, he said he recieved my sons notes today and he is coming out at the weekend with a couple of people from the DWP to try and do a medical as to whether my son is fit for work. My son is at the worst end of the autism scale, no speech, no toilet or self help skills, no relationship or sense of danger skills. Although they have had all the medical paperwork etc they have to do a fresh one and ignore all the other paperwork, I'm looking forward to this weekend and will not try to kerb my son in any way they can see him in his true full colours.

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As I have said before, anyone can work (Stephen Harking has always earned a living) given enough support. But there come a limit as to how much support it is realistic to give.

So people are taken off IB and join the ranks of the unemployed. So more and more people are chasing each job that come up, so employers can keep wages down. By loosing disabled status you may well loss out on other services so saving the exchequer even more.

 

My wife has her medical assessment on Friday.

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i am on ESA and i wont get affected because I am on support group, not work related activity group- i believe u can claim ESA on WRAG for 365 days and then get affected but not on support group. the difference with wrag is that u have to attend sessions where in support group u dont. I was moved from IB/IS because they were phasing them away. Also i didnt have a medical which they even told me this when i asked about it.

Edited by Special_talent123

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I had my ESA renewal in December and have been put into the support group. The 365 days rule for the WRAG group only apply to those on contributions based ESA not Income based, but on income based if you have a partner that earns more than £7.5k or works more than 25hrs you lose all entitlement to ESA. My ESA is up for renewal again in 2014, I wonder what happens when it changes to universal credit?

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If you are on contributions ESA, what happens after a year when it stops. What benefit do you go onto then?

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Sorry havent been on the site for a while............my son was awarded the employment support allowance..........wed to get a medical certificate from his GP but that wasnt a problem shes known him since birth and has known me for over 20 years.We had to fill in some other sort of form around a month ago also it was an indepth thing about how his disability effects him,whether he can read and write day to day stuff.........not heard anything back from that ..........

 

Hardest thing is that basically were in limbo.............he goes to a social group on a Thursday for young adults with learning disailities and he realy enjoys it but the rest of the time theres nothing for him........he was invovled with real emplyment but apart from it being somewhere for him to get a cup of tea they couldnt realy help to find work.......only work he could do was charity shops voluntary againe he did this but the people in there only allowed him to shake a can and do nothing else.........he was fed up to the back teeth hes got aspergers hes not braine dead i thought...........we look every day for paide work anything but theres nothing he could even apply for not unless he was supported.............

 

Hes happy enough i try to keep him busy with the dog,getting out most days helping me.............I dont want to make him feel like hes failed in someway.....because he hasnt....its hard enough for any young person to find work let alone someone who is going to need a lot of extra support and what he can do is limited...........it took a freind of mines asperger son 7 years to get a cleaning job for one hour a day..........

 

Hi Paula,

 

This is just an idea of something your son could do on his own - if it could be something that would interest him.

 

He could buy himself a trio of a particular breed of chickens/pigeons. He would need to research what was in demand, what was rare etc.

 

He would advertise via websites such as "preloved" selling eggs for other to hatch [usually at £1 upwards each depending on the breed].

 

He would buy a small incubator and hatch any eggs he did not sell, and then sell them on as chicks or point of lay.

 

Again, he would advertise that via somewhere like pre-loved.

 

He could take some and sell at his local "fur and feather market" which is run by the local authority. But you tend not to get much money this way.

 

For example, a good breed of hen can fetch from £10-20 at point of lay [and sometimes even more].

 

It would keep him busy doing something that would raise some money and bring some social contact.

 

I wouldn't 'declare' this to any benefits agency. This would be classed as his 'hobby'. So don't infer he could make money out of it. But it would also help him to gain some life, business, social skills.

 

It all depends if he likes chickens and the work involved in caring and rearing them? He would need to learn about chickens and their habits and how to rear them eg. you cannot mix ages as they would attack eachother as they are territorial.

 

But this is something we do, as a hobby, but as something to bring a bit of extra money into the household.

 

You won't become a millionaire. But you are gaining more than just money by trying something like this.

 

Or if he'd prefer a different type of animal eg. hamsters etc and get some deal with the local pet store to supply them.

Edited by Sally44

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Sorry havent been on the site for a while............my son was awarded the employment support allowance..........wed to get a medical certificate from his GP but that wasnt a problem shes known him since birth and has known me for over 20 years.We had to fill in some other sort of form around a month ago also it was an indepth thing about how his disability effects him,whether he can read and write day to day stuff.........not heard anything back from that ..........

 

Hardest thing is that basically were in limbo.............he goes to a social group on a Thursday for young adults with learning disailities and he realy enjoys it but the rest of the time theres nothing for him........he was invovled with real emplyment but apart from it being somewhere for him to get a cup of tea they couldnt realy help to find work.......only work he could do was charity shops voluntary againe he did this but the people in there only allowed him to shake a can and do nothing else.........he was fed up to the back teeth hes got aspergers hes not braine dead i thought...........we look every day for paide work anything but theres nothing he could even apply for not unless he was supported.............

 

Hes happy enough i try to keep him busy with the dog,getting out most days helping me.............I dont want to make him feel like hes failed in someway.....because he hasnt....its hard enough for any young person to find work let alone someone who is going to need a lot of extra support and what he can do is limited...........it took a freind of mines asperger son 7 years to get a cleaning job for one hour a day..........

My daughter is in the same position...she is fed up with being at home all day. She had a job but things didnt work out. As she has learning diffculties and Epilepsy I had to give up my full-time job to support her. She gets more and more frustrated every day. When is someone going to realise that they are employable if people are willing to invest some time in supporting them appropriately?

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My lad finishes college in June and I worry about what is in store for him. I don't think there's any way he could secure a job at the moment. I think he'd be hard pushed to even get an interview, let alone impress any employer at an interview. There used to be an organisation that worked with young people with disabilities to help them find work, but funding was cut and they have closed. I just don't know what chance he has faced with all the competition there will be from other young people who will come over better at interviews. I fear he'll be stuck at home 24/7 with no friends and no place to go.

 

~ Mel ~

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Although your son has been put on ESA at the moment (on the initial "waiting for a decision" rate), his award will not be confirmed until they make a decision based on the form you filled in/a medical. Please do find out more about the process, as it is very complicated and you don't want to get it wrong. www.benfitsandwork.co.uk is a very helpful web-site for ESA.

That link should be www.benefitsandwork.co.uk, according to which I don't qualify for a bean.

@Matzoball: the only branches of Prospects in the country are in London and Glasgow.

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I have been waiting since 6th of December for a decision as to which group my son will go in. I haven't heard if he will or will not have to have a face to face assessment. The DWP haven't been in touch at all regarding this, do you think I should give them a call? Since I filled in the ESA50WP form and sent it to ATOS my son has gone from being in the care home to a hospital for a mental health assessment which the DWP are not yet aware of. I think it would be absolutely crazy for a medical assessment to be carried out.

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It's all been sorted out now. Glen didn't have to have a face to face assessment and he has been put in the Support Group, thank goodness.

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Hi i got the employment support form in sent it back then had to go for a medical last wednesday they ask you about your anxiety and medication i am on dla middle care and income support do not know when they will get back to me they are going to phone and ask me questions at some point and write to my gp before it i do voluntary work in cancer research uk

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Hi Louise hope the medical wasn't too bad to go through. Keep us updated,

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