January 2020: ESA underpayments: Forecast numbers affected, forecast expenditure and progress on checking
January 2020: ESA underpayments: Forecast numbers affected, forecast expenditure and progress on checking
Policy background and introduction
1. Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) was introduced in October 2008 for people who have limited capability to work because they are disabled or ill. From March 2011 the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) began reassessing people on incapacity benefits (for example, Incapacity Benefit and Severe Disablement Allowance) for eligibility for ESA.
2. More than 2 million claimants were receiving incapacity benefits before reassessment began and we have now reassessed around 1.5 million people, nearly all of those who required a reassessment.
3. The department is correcting some past underpayments of ESA, which arose while reassessing incapacity benefit claims.
What you need to know
4. There are 2 main types of ESA:
contributory, which is based on National Insurance contributions
income-related, which is a means-tested benefit – income-related ESA can be paid on its own or as a top-up to contributory ESA
5. Extra payments, called premiums, are available only to qualifying customers who are eligible for income-related benefits. These include the Enhanced Disability, Severe Disability, Carer, and Pensioner Premiums.
6. Largely between January 2011 and October 2014 some people receiving Incapacity Benefit and Severe Disablement Allowance had their claims converted to contributory ESA. However, the possibility of whether they may also have been entitled to income-related ESA was not considered for all cases. This means they may have missed out on the payment of premiums, such as the Enhanced Disability Premium.
7. The department announced it would be undertaking an exercise to review cases to check entitlement for income-related ESA in December 2017, with work on the exercise commencing that month.
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/esa-underpayments-progress-on-checking-january-2020/january-2020-esa-underpayments-forecast-numbers-affected-forecast-expenditure-and-progress-on-checking
https://www.benefitsandwork.co.uk/news/4151-no-more-claimants-to-be-contacted-about-esa-underpayments
1. Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) was introduced in October 2008 for people who have limited capability to work because they are disabled or ill. From March 2011 the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) began reassessing people on incapacity benefits (for example, Incapacity Benefit and Severe Disablement Allowance) for eligibility for ESA.
2. More than 2 million claimants were receiving incapacity benefits before reassessment began and we have now reassessed around 1.5 million people, nearly all of those who required a reassessment.
3. The department is correcting some past underpayments of ESA, which arose while reassessing incapacity benefit claims.
What you need to know
4. There are 2 main types of ESA:
contributory, which is based on National Insurance contributions
income-related, which is a means-tested benefit – income-related ESA can be paid on its own or as a top-up to contributory ESA
5. Extra payments, called premiums, are available only to qualifying customers who are eligible for income-related benefits. These include the Enhanced Disability, Severe Disability, Carer, and Pensioner Premiums.
6. Largely between January 2011 and October 2014 some people receiving Incapacity Benefit and Severe Disablement Allowance had their claims converted to contributory ESA. However, the possibility of whether they may also have been entitled to income-related ESA was not considered for all cases. This means they may have missed out on the payment of premiums, such as the Enhanced Disability Premium.
7. The department announced it would be undertaking an exercise to review cases to check entitlement for income-related ESA in December 2017, with work on the exercise commencing that month.
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/esa-underpayments-progress-on-checking-january-2020/january-2020-esa-underpayments-forecast-numbers-affected-forecast-expenditure-and-progress-on-checking
https://www.benefitsandwork.co.uk/news/4151-no-more-claimants-to-be-contacted-about-esa-underpayments
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