Credit Only ESA ?

[larissa]

Hello everyone,

I haven't been on here for a while and my health has got worse.

I work 2 x 4hr sessions a week and I feel really unwell after each one. The other day I could hardly walk and was very stiff and unable to do anything in the afternoon I felt so tired.

Anyway, I think I will go sick in the not too distant future. Its just too much.

I found out that I would only be entitled to ' Credits Only ,ESA.

I cant find much info on this !!!!!!! How do I go about it ? What steps do I take ? Hopefully someone can explain how it works ?

Thankyou x

[Sewnsew]

Hi, I have recently stopped working due to ill health. Just couldn't do it any longer! Being so tired and struggling to get through a 5 hour shift feeling ill, forgetting things, struggling to concentrate! I am in the process of trying for contribution based ESA. I'm not sure what Credits only ESA is but perhaps have a look on benefitsandwork.co.uk, I think you can look at some of the info before you need to pay a fee to join.

Good luck!

[TheAuthor]

Hi larissa

I am so sorry to read that you are suffering and struggling so much and i sincerely hope that you can find the answers that you so desperately desire and deserve. I have pasted you below the GOV.UK link to ESA so I hope that you find this useful:

gov.uk/employment-support-a...

I want to genuinely wish you all the best of luck

Ken

[Reykua]

Hi Larissa,

If you've been working in the last financial year, the DWP tends to put you on Credit ESA to start with. This is essentially the old 'Unemployment Benefit'.

The only difference is that you are immediately put into the ESA system and will be sent a special form to complete where you have to give all the information about your health issues and return. Unfortunately, there is a bit of a backlog so you may be waiting for a decision for a while and could be invited to a Work Capability Assessment based on your responses.

Here's the crunch - like with most things, there's a bit of a skill or should I say 'technique' to completing the form to get the best possible outcome, so as mentioned by others, I would suggest you get as much good advice as possible from reputable sources such as those mentioned previously. There's also information on the right hand side of this website, as well as feedback from those who have undertaken the process with varying results.

Wishing you all the very best. You've already taken the first important step - asking for advice from a great source so it's just a case of onwards and upwards but more importantly, don't be scared off doing what's right for you and don't be too quick to give up if things start to get tough - which they may do, financially.

[larissa in reply to Reykua]

Thankyou x