If your new style ESA is stopped or reduced

Old style ESA has ended for most people

It was made up of 2 types of ESA:

• income-related

• contribution-based

Check what you can do if you used to get old style ESA.

If you're still getting income-related ESA

You might still be getting income-related ESA if the DWP thought you might need an ‘appointee’ to help you claim Universal Credit. An appointee is someone who has the legal right to sort out someone’s benefits for them.

If you're in this situation, the DWP should send you or your appointee a migration notice in the future. Check what to do if you've got a migration notice.

If you have a problem with your benefit, or if it's ended when you weren't expecting it to, talk to an adviser.

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) might stop or reduce your new style Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) because:

• you don’t have limited capability for work - this means difficulty working because you’re sick or disabled

• you’ve been getting ESA for 1 year

• they’ve recalculated your ESA – this means they’ve changed how much you get after your circumstances changed

• they’ve suspended your ESA

• they’re taking back an advance payment or an overpayment

• they’ve given you a sanction

If the DWP disqualify you from ESA, they could stop your benefit for up to 6 weeks. If you're in this situation, you can talk to an adviser.

If the DWP stop or reduce your ESA, you might be able to challenge them or start a new claim.

If you’re not sure why your ESA has been stopped or reduced, you can:

• check any letters the DWP have sent you – they should explain what has happened

• call the DWP’s Benefit Enquiry Line and ask them to explain

If you also get Housing Benefit

If you live in temporary or supported housing and your ESA stops, you must contact your local council as soon as possible.

Tell them what happened to your ESA and why - this is so they can recalculate your Housing Benefit.

You can find out how to contact your local council on GOV.UK.

If the DWP say you don’t have limited capability for work

The DWP might have stopped your ESA because you:

• didn’t send the WCA50 or ESA50 work capability questionnaire on time

• didn’t go to a work capability assessment

• went to a work capability assessment and the DWP decided you’re able to work

The WCA50 form used to be called the ESA50 form

If you've been sent the ESA50, you should still fill this in and send it back.

If your ESA stopped because you didn’t send the questionnaire on time

You can challenge the decision to stop your ESA if there was a good reason you didn’t send the questionnaire on time. For example, you might have been ill or had an emergency at home. You should start your challenge within 1 month of the decision.

If you can’t challenge the decision, you might be able to make a new claim. You should complete and send the questionnaire with your new claim. This means you’ll get paid ESA straight away when the new claim starts.

You can check if you can claim ESA.

If your ESA stopped because you didn’t go to a work capability assessment

You can challenge the decision to stop your ESA if there was a good reason you didn’t go to the work capability assessment. For example, you might have been ill or had an emergency at home. You should start your challenge within 1 month of the decision.

If you can’t challenge the decision, you might be able to make a new claim. If you make a new claim less than 6 months after your ESA stopped, you won’t be paid straight away. You’ll only be paid after you go to another work capability assessment – this is usually about 3 months after your claim.

You can check if you can claim ESA.

If your ESA stopped because the DWP decided you’re able to work

If you think the DWP are wrong, you can challenge the decision to stop your ESA. You should start your challenge within 1 month of the decision.

If you can’t challenge the decision, you might be able to make a new claim. You can only make a new claim if since the DWP’s decision:

• your condition has got worse

• you’ve got a new condition

You can check if you can claim ESA.

If you’ve been getting ESA for 1 year

If you’re in the work-related activity group, your ESA will stop. You can check what you can do when you reach the 1 year limit.

Your ESA shouldn’t change if you’re in the support group. 

If the DWP have recalculated your ESA

If your circumstances change, the DWP might decide you’ll get a different amount of ESA.

You can check if you’re getting the right amount of ESA. If the DWP give you the wrong amount, you can challenge the decision.

If the DWP have suspended your ESA

The DWP might suspend your ESA while they decide how much you should be paid or if you should still get ESA. For example, they might suspend your ESA if:

• they're not sure you're as sick as you say you are

• you didn’t give them information or documents they asked for – they should give you 14 days to send anything to them

• you reported a change of circumstances and the DWP are working out how much ESA you'll get again

You can’t challenge the DWP’s decision to suspend your claim.

If the DWP ask for any information or documents, send them as soon as possible. This should help them make a decision faster. If you don’t hear from the DWP, call them to check what they’re waiting for.

If the DWP are taking back an advance payment or overpayment

If you got an advance payment when you applied for ESA, the DWP can reduce your ESA until you’ve paid it back. You can’t challenge the DWP’s decision to recover your advance payment.

If the DWP says you’ve had an overpayment, it means you’ve been paid too much ESA. If you don’t think you were overpaid, you can challenge the DWP’s decision to reduce your ESA. You should start your challenge within 1 month of the decision.

The DWP can reduce your ESA until you’ve paid back the overpayment. They will reduce your ESA by:

• up to £38.22 each week if you’re aged 25 or over

• up to £30.26 each week if you’re aged under 25

If the DWP have given you a sanction

The DWP give you a sanction if you don’t do something you were supposed to do. The sanction means your ESA is reduced for a fixed amount of time.

If you’ve been given a sanction for benefit fraud

The rules about sanctions for benefit fraud are different. You should get help from your nearest Citizens Advice.

You can’t usually be given a sanction if you’re in the support group or you haven’t been put in a group yet – check what group you’re in.

You might have been given a sanction because:

• you didn't go to an interview or do something else the DWP said you had to do – this is called 'work-related activity'

• your partner didn’t go to an interview the DWP said they had to go to

You can challenge the decision to give you a sanction if there was a good reason you didn’t go to the interview or work-related activity. For example, you might have been ill or had an emergency at home. You should start your challenge within 1 month of the decision.

If you don’t think you had to do the work-related activity at all, check what work-related activity you have to do. You can’t be given a sanction just because you didn’t do work experience.

Check how much your ESA will be reduced by

The DWP will usually reduce your ESA by:

• £95.55 each week if you're aged 25 or over

• £75.65 each week if you're aged under 25

The sanction won’t reduce your ESA to less than 10p each week.

Your ESA will be reduced until you go to the interview or work-related activity you missed.

If you missed an interview, your ESA will start again as soon as you go to an interview.

If you didn’t do work-related activity, your ESA will be reduced for at least 1 week after you do the activity. How long your sanction lasts depends on your situation.

If you got this sanction less than 2 weeks after your last sanction, this sanction will last for as long as the last one.

You can challenge the DWP’s decision if you think:

• you shouldn’t have been given a sanction

• you’ve been given a sanction that is too long

You should start your challenge within 1 month of the decision.

If you don’t have enough money to live on

You can check what other help you can get for your living costs.