Contributory Employment and Support Allowance provides financial help to people who are unable to work because of illness or disability. It also provides personalised support to those who are able to work.

You qualify for contributory Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) if you have paid sufficient National Insurance Contributions. You can also qualify in certain circumstances if your period of limited capability for work begain before the age of 20 (if you are an existing claimant), or 25 in some cases. For further information see Employment and Support Allowance in youth.

If you are over 20 years of age (or aged 20-25 in certain circumstances) you must have made the following level of National Insurance Contributions:

• in one of the previous three tax years, have paid some Class 1 or 2 contributions to the value of 25 times the lower earnings limit; and
• in each of the two previous complete tax years, have paid or been credited with, contributions to the value of 50 times the lower earnings limit.

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) will treat any credits that are earned as a carer as actual National Insurance payments.

To find out whether you have paid enough National Insurance Contributions to claim contributory Employment and Support Allowance you should phone the Department for Work and Pensions on 0800 055 6688 (or 0800 023 4888 if you have a speech or hearing impairment).

As well as having paid enough National Insurance Contributions you must also satisfy the other conditions for Employment and Support Allowance. To make an initial claim all you must do is provide a medical certificate. However, after a 13 week ‘assessment phase’ ESA is only payable if you meet the ‘Work Capability Assessment’ rules.

Contributory ESA is paid without the income and saving test applied to means-tested benefits. However, deductions are made for pension payments you receive and payments of permanent health insurance. In this case ESA is reduced by half the amount of any payment in excess of £85.

Even if you claim contributory ESA you may also be entitled to income-related ESA to ‘top-up’ the amount you get. To find out your entitlement to income-related ESA please continue through the calculator.

Changes from April 2012