Reply To: ESAC lower than ESASG
Peter BarkerI don’t speak Northgate, so here is my take in English.
The claimant is entitled to main phase ESA(c) in the support group, which is a fixed rate of £117.60 on the 2022/23 figures we are discussing. None of it is disregarded as income for HB purposes, it all counts in full. That rate includes the support component, which is not a separate “thing”, it is baked into the ESA rate.
Because the claimant has a private pension above £85 a week, ESA has been reduced to £35.27. By my calculation, the rate of occ pen must be £249.66 a week: ESA has been reduced by £82.33, and if that is 50% of the excess pension above £85 then the pension must be (82.33 x 2 + 85) = 249.66. Does that tally with the income details you hold?
The amount of ESA used as income is £35.27, not because it’s less than the support component but simply because that is how much it is. If the pension had been £50 a week lower, the deduction from ESA would have been £25 a week lower and the ESA rate would have been £60.27 – which would also have counted as income. I don’t see how it matters whether the reduced ESA award is higher or lower than the support component.
The HB applicable amount still includes the full support component of £40.60 though.