New-style Employment and Support Allowance
New-style ESA still exists. It is contribution-based, so it depends on your National Insurance record rather than your savings — and it can be paid on top of Universal Credit, which is why it is worth checking even if you already have a UC claim.
On this page
What is still available
The ESA system has three parts, and only one of them is open to new claims.
| Type of ESA | Basis | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Income-related ESA | Means-tested | Replaced by Universal Credit. Closed to new claims. |
| Contribution-based ESA | National Insurance record | Replaced by new-style ESA. Closed to new claims. |
| New-style ESA | National Insurance record, not means-tested | Open to new claims. |
New-style ESA is for people who cannot work because of a health condition or disability, and who have a sufficient National Insurance contribution record. Because it is contribution-based, your savings and your partner's income do not affect it.
The contribution conditions
You normally need:
- to have worked and paid National Insurance in the two to three years before your claim, and
- to have paid enough Class 1 or Class 2 contributions in one of the last two complete tax years.
You also need to be below State Pension age, not in full-time education, and to have a limited capability for work established through a work capability assessment. You cannot claim new-style ESA if you are entitled to Statutory Sick Pay.
Class 2 contributions and self-employment. Self-employed people can qualify for new-style ESA through Class 2 contributions, and Class 2 contributions are now treated as paid where profits exceed the Small Profits Threshold — which has widened eligibility significantly. If you are self-employed and ill, check your record before assuming you cannot claim.
The 2026/27 rates
| Phase | Weekly | Monthly | When it applies |
|---|---|---|---|
| Assessment phase | £95.55 | £414.05 | The first 13 weeks, before a work capability assessment determines which group you are in. Under-25 rate: £75.65. |
| Work-related activity group | £133.50 | £578.50 | After the assessment, where you are found to have limited capability for work but not LCWRA. Made up of the £95.55 personal allowance plus a £37.95 work-related activity component. |
| Support group | £145.90 | £632.23 | Where you are found to have limited capability for work-related activity. Made up of the £95.55 personal allowance plus a £50.35 support component. |
An enhanced disability premium of £22.00 a week may be added for the support group in certain circumstances, and a severe disability premium of £86.05 may apply where you live alone and no one receives Carer's Allowance for you. Both are legacy-linked and apply only to certain claims.
The work capability assessment
Entitlement to ESA depends on a work capability assessment, which is a points-based test like PIP but built around different activities — physical functions such as mobilising, standing, sitting, bending, and mental functions such as learning, awareness of hazard and coping with change.
There is no mobility component and no care component. The outcome places you in one of two groups:
- Work-related activity group — you are found to have limited capability for work. You have work-related requirements, and no additional component is payable.
- Support group — you are found to have limited capability for work-related activity. There should be no work-related requirements, and the support component is payable.
The assessment outcome can be challenged. Work capability decisions are frequently wrong at the initial stage, and the appeal success rate is high. If you have been placed in the work-related activity group when you believe you should be in the support group, the difference is worth around £12.40 a week — over £640 a year. Mandatory reconsideration is the first step, and you have one month.
ESA and Universal Credit together
This is where new-style ESA becomes genuinely valuable, and it is routinely missed.
New-style ESA is not deducted pound for pound from Universal Credit. Instead, it counts as unearned income and is deducted from the UC award, but the effect is neutral in most cases — and in some cases it is not neutral at all:
- The ESA award establishes your limited capability for work status for UC purposes, which brings the LCWRA element of £429.80 a month on the protected rate where you are in the support group (or £217.26 for health decisions made from 6 April 2026).
- Having limited capability for work gives you a work allowance in UC — £673 a month if you do not receive the housing element, £404 if you do. This is worth real money to anyone who works part-time.
- New-style ESA is payable even where your UC award is reduced to nil by earnings — the ESA claim carries on, and so does your work allowance position.
- Where you have no entitlement to UC at all because of capital above £16,000, new-style ESA may still be payable, because it is not means-tested.
The practical point. If you have a health condition that stops you working, and you have a National Insurance record, claim both. Claim UC for the living costs and claim new-style ESA for the contribution-based entitlement. The ESA will be offset against UC, but the LCWRA element and the work allowance it establishes can be worth several thousand pounds a year, and neither is available on a UC claim alone.
How to claim
- Claim by phone where possibleNew-style ESA is normally claimed by calling the ESA claim line, although online claiming is available in some cases. Have your National Insurance number and bank details ready.
- Provide fit notes continuouslyYour claim depends on continuous medical evidence of limited capability for work. A gap in fit notes can end the claim — get a new one before the old one expires.
- Complete the ESA50 questionnaire if askedNot everyone receives one, but where you do, it is the document that decides your case. Complete it in the same careful way as a PIP form — see our evidence guide, which applies equally here.
- Attend any assessmentAs with PIP, telephone assessments are now common. Keep notes in front of you and answer about your worst days rather than a typical day.
- Challenge the group decisionMandatory reconsideration within one month, then appeal to the First-tier Tribunal. Support group appeals have a good success rate.
Placed in the wrong ESA group?
The difference between the work-related activity group and the support group is over £2,400 a year, and the decisions are often wrong. We can handle the challenge.
Book a consultation — £50 Read the appeal guide