Contribution based ESA payment rates

During the initial 13 week assessment phase people over the age of 25 will be paid £65.45 per week, people under the age of 25 will receive £51.85 per week.

Once the assessment phase has been completed you will receive a basic allowance of £65.45 per week plus either a support component of £31.40 per week for those who are placed in the support group or a work related activity component of £25.95 per week for those placed in the work related activity group.

If you are on a low income, you may be able claim income-related ESA as well to increase your allowances. If you meet both the criteria for contribution based and income related Employment and Support Allowance then you will receive whichever is the greater between the ESA (Cont) personal rate and your ESA IR applicable amount.

Income-related ESA payment rates

1. Your income
2. Your capital
3. Whether or not you have a partner
4. Whether you or your partner have a severe disability
5. Whether you or your partner have reached the age of 60
6. Whether you or your partner are a carer
7. Whether you have certain housing costs
8. Whether you are in the 13 week assessment phase or have been placed in the support group or the work-related activity group.

Income-related ESA payments are worked out by subtracting your total income (including any tariff income) from your applicable amount.

The applicable amount

1. Your prescribed amount
2. Either the support component (£31.40 per week) or the work related activity component (£25.95 per week)
3. Any entitlement to additional premiums
4. Any allowable housing costs

Your prescibed amount

The rate of prescribed amount that will be applied to you depends on your age and whether or not you are part of a couple, there are different age criteria as well if you are a lone parent. The other variation relates to whether or not you have completed the assessment phase of an application for ESA.

1. Both partners aged 18 or over £102.75
2. Both partners aged under 18 (in the assessment phase) £51.85
3. Both partners aged under 18 with child (in the assessment phase) £76.90
4. Both partners aged under 18 (having completed the assessment phase) £65.45
5. One partner aged 25 and the other is under 18 and not eligible for ESA or income Support £65.45
6. One partner aged 18-24 in the assesmment phase, the other is under 18 and not eligible for ESA or income Support £51.85
7. One partner aged 18-24 (having completed the assessment phase), the other is under 18 and not eligible for ESA or income support £65.45

The first rate of £102.75 includes couples where one partner is under 18 but would be eligible for either income related ESA or income support if they were single, this rate also applies to couples where one partner is under 18 and is eligible for either income-based jobseeker's allowance or severe hardship payments.

The second and third rates only applies to couples under the age of 18 that meet any of the following criteria:

1. One partner is responsible for a child
2. Both partners are eligible for income-related ESA or income support in their own right
3. If they were single, the claimant's partner would be eligible for income support
4. The claimant's partner is eligible for income-based jobseeker's allowance or severe hardship payments.

If the under 18 couple do not meet any of these criteria then the single person's amount will apply ie £51.85 during the assessment phase and £60.50 once the assessment has been completed.

Prescribed amounts for a lone parent

1. Aged 18 or over £65.45
2. Aged under 18 (in the assessment phase) £51.85
3. Aged under 18 (having completed the assessment phase £65.45

Prescribed amounts for a single person

1. Aged over 25 £65.45
2. Aged under 25 (in the assessment phase) £51.85
3. Aged under 25 (having completed the assessment phase) £65.45

Premiums

Premiums expressed as weekly amounts are added to the prescibed amounts when working out your applicable amount. There are four different premiums the details of which are set out below.

The severe disability premium rates are:

1. Single applicant £53.65
2. Couple where one partner meets the criteria £53.65
3. Couple where both partners meet the criteria £107.30

1. You receive the middle or higher rate of Disability Living Allowance (DLA) care component or Attendance Allowance or Constant Attendance Allowance and
2. Nobody receives Carer's Allowance for looking after you and
3. There are no non-dependent adults living with you.

1. Both of you receive the middle or higher rate of Disability Living Allowance (DLA) care component or Attendance Allowance or Constant Attendance Allowance and
2. There are no non-dependant adults living with you and
3. A person receives Carer's Allowance for looking after one of you or
4. No-one receives Carer's Allowance for looking after either of you

You will still qualify if your partner does not receive the middle or higher rate of DLA care component or Attendance Allowance or Constant Attendance Allowance but is registered blind or severely sight impaired.

The enhanced disability premium rates are:

1. Single person £13.65
2. Couple £19.65

The enhanced disability premium is awarded to applicants who have been placed in the support group or are in receipt of the highest rate of the DLA care component. It is only available to people under the age of 60.

DLA isn't paid when you go into hospital for more than four weeks but the enhanced disability premium will continue for the first 52 weeks of a hospital stay.

The enhanced premium can be paid in addition to the severe disability premium.

The pensioner premium is awarded to those applicants (or partners) who have reached the age of 60. The purpose of the pensioner premium is to ensure that, for people over 60, the applicable amount is at least equivalent to the standard rate of pension credit.

The pensioner premium can be awarded in addition to the severe disability premium and the carer premium.

1. Single person (in the work-related activity group) £41.20
2. Single person (in the support group) £35.75
3. Single person (in the assessment phase) £67.15
4. Couple (in the work related activity group) £73.70
5. Couple (in the support group) £68.25
6. Couple (in the assessment phase) £99.65

The carer premium rate is £30.50 per week.

You will be awarded the carer premium if you are receiving Carer's Allowance (CA) or if you are entitled to CA but are not actually receiving it because of the overlapping benefits rule.

You will continue to receive the carer premium for eight weeks after the person you are caring for dies. This also also applies to any other circumstances whereby you stop receiving CA.

Allowable housing costs

Housing costs will only be included for the home in which you normally live.

In order to get some of your housing costs included in your applicable amount then you or your partner must actually be liable for those costs for the home in which you are living.

Housing costs will also be included if you can show that you are having to meet those costs because the person who is liable is not actually paying them.

The amount of housing costs that may be included in your applicable amount will be restricted if it is thought that your current housing costs are excessive (see below).

The amount of allowable housing costs will be reduced if you have adult non-dependants living with you (see below)

You will also be considered to be liable for housing costs if you can show that costs are shared with other members of the household (who are not your close relatives) and at least one member of the household is actually liable.

1. Mortgage interest payments and interest on other loans taken out to buy your home
2. Interest on loans for repairs and improvements to your home
3. Service charges which are for the provision of "adequate accommodation"
4. Ground rent or rent payable under a long tenancy (more than 21 years)
5. Payments under a co-ownership scheme
6. Rent if you are a crown tenant
7. If you live in a tent, payments for the tent and any site fees
8. Mortgage interest payments and interest on other loans to pay off an earlier loan to buy your home

Loans for repairs and improvements

1. Provision of a fixed bath, shower, wash basin, sink or lavatory, and necessary associated plumbing, including the provision of hot water not connected to a central heating system
2. Damp proofing
3. Provision of ventilation and natural lighting
4. Provision of drainage facilities
5. Provision of facilities for preparing and cooking food
6. Provision of insulation of the dwelling occupied as the home
7. Provision of electric lighting and sockets
8. Provision of storage facilities for fuel or refuse
9. Repairs of unsafe structural defects
10. Adapting your home for the special needs of a disabled person
11. Provision of separate bedrooms for young people of different sexes aged between 10 and 20 who live with you and for whom either you or your partner are responsible.

1. In the main phase of Employment and Support Allowance or
2. Entitled to the disability premium payable with Income Support whether or not this is actually being claimed or
3. Over the age of 75
4. Someone for whom the disability or severely disabled elements of child tax credit would be payable whether or not this is actually paid.