Employment and Support Allowance (ESA)
Your guide to Employment and Support Allowance
From 27 October 2008, Employment and Support Allowance replaced Incapacity Benefit and Income Support paid on incapacity grounds for new customers.
The principle of Employment and Support Allowance is that everyone should have the opportunity to work and that people with an illness or disability should get the support they need to engage in appropriate work, if and when they are able.
Across the United Kingdom, over 2.6 million people depend on incapacity benefits, and yet nine out of ten new customers say that they want to return to work. In Northern Ireland alone, there are around 114,000 people on incapacity benefits, 74% of whom have been dependent on those benefits for more than 2 years.
There is a body of evidence that people are better off in work – not only financially, but in terms of their health and well-being, their self-esteem and the future prospects for themselves and their family.
Key facts
The key things you need to know about Employment and Support Allowance.
Customers
Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) replaces Incapacity Benefit and Income Support (paid on the grounds of incapacity), for new customers only, as of 27th October 2008.
Customers claiming Incapacity Benefit or Income Support (paid on the grounds of incapacity) Allowance before 27th October 2008 are NOT affected by the introduction of Employment and Support Allowance.
Advisers and customer representatives
Employment and Support Allowance is designed to enable your customers to achieve their full potential through work, and to support those for whom work is not a viable option. The Social Security Agency wants to help you understand what the introduction of Employment and Support Allowance will mean for our shared customers so that you can help us to support them.
Healthcare professionals
Employment and Support Allowance does not mean big changes to the way healthcare professionals deal with patients or the paperwork they complete. The Social Security Agency already asks GPs to fill in forms to provide us with information about patients, and some of the forms have changed.
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