Source document: https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/1698926701928.pdf (United Kingdom)
New Style Employment and Support Allowance and Universal Credit dual claims Contents Introduction Key features of New Style Employment and Support Allowance and Universal Credit dual claims Claimants who work and receive New Style Employment and Support Allowance and Universal Credit Effect of New Style Employment and Support Allowance on Universal Credit Work Capability Assessment Work-related requirements Effect on waiting days New Style Employment and Support Allowance appeal outcomes Successful New Style Employment and Support Allowance appeals Introduction A dual claim is where Universal Credit and contribution-based New Style Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) are claimed and paid alongside each other.
This includes cases where the award of New Style ESA is nil.

Agents must not close the New Style ESA or existing Universal Credit claim if the other benefit has been claimed unless the claimant insists on it.

The claimant must not be advised to contact the other benefit to request its closure.

This guidance should be used alongside Spotlight on: New Style Employment and Support Allowance and Universal Credit dual claims.
Key features of New Style Employment and Support Allowance and Universal Credit dual claims The key features of a dual claim are: • claimants will be awarded a Class 1 National Insurance credit even if the award of New Style ESA is nil • National Insurance Class 1 credits stop the day that entitlement to New Style ESA ends and the claimant will instead receive Class 3 contribution credits (for more information on National Insurance contributions, see What National Insurance is for • claimants must also provide a Statement of Fitness for Work where required, further Statements of Fitness for Work are not required after a WCA decision has been made unless the claimant suffers a deterioration in their health condition or a new health condition is reported and a new WCA assessment is required • alongside other conditions of entitlement, the claimant must accept both a New Style ESA Claimant Commitment and a Universal Credit Claimant Commitment as a condition of entitlement • a terminally ill claimant is not required to accept a Claimant Commitment for either New Style ESA or Universal Credit (see Removal of the requirement to accept a Claimant Commitment.
• Universal Credit conditionality applies and work-related requirements are managed through a Universal Credit Claimant Commitment (failure to comply with the Claimant Commitment could result in only the claimant’s Universal Credit being sanctioned) • no conditionality or sanctions should be imposed through the New Style ESA claim, Universal Credit sanctions will apply instead for these claimants Claimants who work and receive New Style Employment and Support Allowance and Universal Credit Universal Credit will receive earnings information through a Real Time Information data feed unless the claimant is informed that they must self-report.
Claimants must self-report any earnings in respect of their New Style ESA to Jobcentre Plus.

New Style ESA claimants may undertake permitted work for up to 16 hours per week and receive earnings up to £143 per week.

The claimant must obtain agreement in advance with their work coach before starting any Permitted Work.

There are 2 categories of Permitted Work.

See Permitted Work guidance for more information.


The Permitted Work earnings up to the £143 limit will be completely disregarded from New Style ESA but will be taken into account in Universal Credit as earnings.

Effect of New Style Employment and Support Allowance on Universal Credit To avoid duplication of payments, New Style ESA is taken into account ‘penny for penny’ as unearned income in the Universal Credit assessment.
The System automatically calculates the amended Universal Credit payments from the details held in ‘Other Benefits’.

The amount taken into account is the ‘adjusted gross award’ of New Style ESA.

This is the amount awarded after earnings, occupational pensions and private health insurance have been taken into account but before any other deductions, for example overpayments.

Other changes to the amount of New Style ESA paid are taken into account using the ‘whole month approach’.
This means that the Universal Credit award is adjusted by taking into account the New Style ESA in payment at the end of the assessment period and applying that to the whole of that assessment period.

When payment of New Style ESA starts or ends in a Universal Credit assessment period, the actual number of days of New Style ESA paid is taken into account.

The New Style ESA claim must be closed at the end of the entitlement period.
Work Capability Assessment When a claim is made for both Universal Credit and New Style ESA, the same Work Capability Assessment is used.

See Work Capability Assessments.

Claimants are required to attend Flexible Intervention ESA mandatory appointments following the new claim and are expected to undertake work preparation activity until the WCA has been completed.
Entitlement to New Style ESA lasts for a period determined by the outcome of the claimant’s WCA as long as entitlement conditions continue to be met.

There are three possible outcomes following a WCA.


A claimant can be determined to: • have limited capability for work (LCW) will be entitled to New Style ESA for up to 365 days • have limited capability for work and work related activity (LCWRA) will be entitled to New Style ESA payments indefinitely subject to their next WCA and normal non-WCA entitlement conditions • be found fit for work and must continue to claim Universal Credit and/or New Style JSA.
For more information, see New Style Employment and Support Allowance Only claims.

Work-related requirements Work-related requirements for claimants receiving both Universal Credit and New Style ESA are the same for those who have LCW and LCWRA.

Some claimants will not have any work-related requirements.
Details of what a claimant must do to meet their work-related requirements and the consequences of not doing so, are set out in their Claimant Commitment which they must accept as a condition of entitlement.

See Claimant Commitment hub.

Effect on waiting days Seven waiting days may be applied at the start of an award of New Style ESA unless the claim is made within 12 weeks of the termination of a prescribed working-age benefit, or if no other exceptions apply.
New Style ESA claims made because of COVID-19 do not serve waiting days.

Any past or current entitlement to Universal Credit has no effect on the application of waiting days with New Style ESA.

Waiting days do not apply in Universal Credit.

New Style Employment and Support Allowance appeals outcomes Work capability decisions from a decision maker must be added to the claimant’s Universal Credit claim.
Successful New Style Employment and Support Allowance appeals For dual claims only, if a claimant appeals against a New Style ESA outcome and that appeal is successful, a DWP appeal or Mandatory Reconsideration Outcome notification will be sent to Universal Credit.

Appropriate action will be taken depending on the type of appeal outcome received.

New Style ESA processing staff will record on JSAPS that the notification has been sent to Universal Credit.