You may get new style ESA if you have lived or worked abroad and paid
enough UK National Insurance or the equivalent in a European Economic
Area (EEA) country, or a country with which the UK has an agreement.
Any earnings you get from employment, pensions or other benefits might
affect how much new style ESA you are paid.
Other household income or savings will not affect your payment.
Supporting information you will need to provide
If you are getting Statutory Sick Pay, please bring your current Statement
of Fitness for Work with your claim form to your New Claim Appointment.
Statements of Fitness for Work are also known as fit notes, medical
certificates, doctor’s statements, or sick notes. If you cannot get Statutory
Sick Pay, you do not normally need to get a Statement of Fitness for work
for the first 7 days of your illness, disability, injury or health condition. We
will need to see either a letter from your doctor or an original Statement
of Fitness for Work from the eighth day you want to claim new style ESA
for. There is more information about what information you need to bring
to your New Claim Appointment in the ‘what happens next’ section at the
end of the claim form.
Work Capability Assessments
As part of your claim to new style ESA, following your New Claim
Appointment, you will be asked to take part in a Work Capability
Assessment. This will help us understand your current illness, disability,
injury or health condition.
We will ask you to read, fill in and return a Capability for Work
questionnaire about how your illness, disability, injury or health condition
affects your ability to work. You may then be asked to go to a face-to-face
assessment with a healthcare professional.
Please note: the face-to-face assessment is not a medical examination.
It is to help us understand how your illness, disability, injury or health
condition affects your ability to work.
This means we can give you the right support to help you work when
we can. This could include work you have not thought about before. Not
everyone is asked to go, but if you are given an appointment, it is important
you attend. If you do not fill in and send back the questionnaire, or go
to your Work Capability Assessment if you are asked to, you could lose
your new style ESA payments.
We understand you might be nervous about your assessment. If you would
like someone to go with you to the assessment, please take them with
you. The person you take should know and understand you and your needs
(for example, a relative, support worker, or friend. They must be 16 or over).
You can find out more about the Work Capability Assessment and see
a video of a face-to-face assessment by visiting the Health Assessment
Advisory Service website at www.chdauk.co.uk
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