Employment and Support Allowance (ESA)
Employment and Support Allowance replaces Incapacity Benefit for new claimants from 27 October 2008. If you are already receiving Incapacity Benefit, you will continue to get it as long as you are eligible.
You may be able to claim Employment and Support Allowance if any of the following apply to you:
- your Statutory Sick Pay has ended, or you cannot get it
- you are self employed or unemployed
- you have been getting Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP) and have not gone back to work for your employer because you have an illness or disability which affects your ability to work
- you are under State Pension age
You must also either:
- have had an illness or disabilty which affects your ability to work for at least four days in a row (including weekends and public holidays)
- be unable to work for two or more days out of seven consecutive days
- be getting special medical treatment
If you are aged between 16 and 20 (or under 25 if you were in education or training at least three months immediately before turning 20), you must:
- have been too ill to work because of an illness or disability for at least 28 weeks
- have been too ill to work before you turned 20 (or 25 if you were in education or training at least three months immediately before turning 20)
Entitlement conditions
There are two types of Employment and Support Allowance:
- contribution-based
- income-related
Contribution-based Employment and Support Allowance
Income-based Employment and Support Allowance
How to claim
By Telephone or Textphone
You can claim Employment and Support Allowance by telephone or textphone. An adviser at the contact centre will go though the application with you and fill in the form. You will not have to fill in any forms yourself.
Lines are open Monday to Friday, 8 am to 6 pm.
Contact centre numbers:
Telephone 0800 055 6688
Textphone 0800 023 4888
Call charges
Calls to 0800 numbers are free from BT landlines, but you may have to pay if you: use another phone company use a mobile phone are calling from abroad Calls from mobile phones can cost up to 40p a minute, so check the cost of the calls with your service provider.
Textphones
Textphones are for people who find it hard to speak or hear clearly. Our textphone numbers can only receive calls made from another textphone. If you do not have a textphone of your own but need to use one, try your local library or an advice centre like the Citizens Advice Bureau, who may have one.
Online
You can claim online via the Department for Work and Pensions' Benefits online service.
Downloading a claim form
If you would like to fill in the claim form by yourself, you can download it. You will have to print this form and post it to Jobcentre Plus.
There are guidance notes which you need to read before filling in the claim form.
There are two versions of the form. One version must be printed and filled in with a pen. The other version can be filled in using the computer.
You can save this interactive form as you fill it in. This means that you do not have to complete the form in one go. The 'save' feature only works in Adobe Reader 7.0 and above.
After you have completed the form on screen, you will have to print and sign it.
Please note that these forms do not apply in Northern Ireland.
Download guidance notes sheet - Employment and Support Allowance (PDF, 184K) 
Download claim form - Employment and Support Allowance (PDF, 664K)
Download interactive saveable claim form - Employment and Support Allowance (PDF, 2105K)
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