Glossary · UK
What is Income-Related Employment and Support Allowance?
A means-tested form of ESA topping up or replacing contribution-based ESA for claimants with low income and savings, now closed to most new claimants and largely replaced by Universal Credit.
Full Definition
Income-related Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) was the means-tested version of ESA, available to claimants with limited capability for work whose income and savings were low enough to qualify, regardless of their National Insurance contribution record. Unlike contribution-based ESA, it took into account a partner's earnings, other household income, and savings above 6,000 pounds (with entitlement removed entirely once savings exceeded 16,000 pounds, mirroring the capital limits used across most other means-tested benefits), and could either top up a claimant's contribution-based ESA to a higher amount, or be paid on its own where someone did not have a sufficient National Insurance record. Following the introduction of Universal Credit, income-related ESA has been closed to new claims in almost all cases since claimants who would previously have qualified are instead directed to claim Universal Credit, which now performs the equivalent means-tested, income-topping role. People who were already receiving income-related ESA before Universal Credit's rollout in their area have generally continued to receive it, either indefinitely as a "legacy benefit" or until they are moved onto Universal Credit through the Department for Work and Pensions' managed migration process, which is gradually being completed across the country. Because income-related ESA and Universal Credit both means-test on similar principles but calculate entitlement differently -- ESA includes a variety of premiums (such as the severe disability premium, enhanced disability premium, and pensioner premium) that have no direct equivalent within Universal Credit -- some long-standing ESA claimants, particularly those receiving the severe disability premium, may find they would be financially worse off moving to Universal Credit voluntarily, which is why the DWP's managed migration process includes transitional protection payments to prevent an immediate cash loss for those moved across, at least at the point of migration. Claimants currently receiving income-related ESA who are considering a voluntary move to Universal Credit should generally seek benefits advice first, since Universal Credit is not reversible once claimed.