Claiming state benefits

Meet Bob

Bob, 28 is an employed worker in a stressful job. There are no sick pay benefits available to him other than Statutory Sick Pay and Bob has no protection insurance. Bob typically has to take work home at the weekends to meet important deadlines. He is married and has 3 very young children.

He works in a big city and spends a total of around 2 hours every day travelling into the office and travelling home. Recently, friends, family and work colleagues have all noticed a change in Bob’s behaviour and some of them have mentioned it to him.

Bob seems distant, quiet and isolated from any group conversations. He doesn’t want to acknowledge there is anything wrong and doesn’t want to talk about it, not even to his wife Sam. After a few weeks, Bob’s wife makes an appointment for Bob to see his GP. 

The GP diagnoses Bob with depression and anxiety. The doctor prescribes some counselling and a course of medication. The doctor also recommends that Bob needs to take some time off work. An initial ‘fit note’ for 4 weeks is given to Bob. Bob sends the ‘fit note’ to his employer and officially goes off work sick.

Statutory Sick Pay is paid to Bob and he receives it through pay as you earn on the normal day he is paid each month. Statutory Sick Pay is paid after being off work sick for 4 or more days in a row which includes non-working days and is not paid for the first 3 days. The current rate of Statutory Sick Pay is £118.75 a week. Statutory Sick Pay is only available to employees (not self-employed) and is paid for a period of up to 28 weeks. 

Can he claim Universal Credit?

Universal Credit is a payment to help people with their living costs. It's paid monthly for most claimants, but twice a month for some people who live in Scotland. Universal Credit provides certain benefits for claimants who are on low incomes or are out of work. It can be paid to the self-employed. 

Universal Credit replaced 6 existing means tested benefits:

• Child Tax Credit
• Housing Benefit
• Income Support
• Income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance
• Income-related Employment and Support Allowance
• Working Tax Credit

Bob applies to find out what benefit he can claim to provide him with a replacement income. If Bob qualifies for Universal Credit, he will receive a single monthly payment which can cover a variety of the components mentioned above. 

Can he claim Employment & Support Allowance?

There are different types of Employment & Support Allowance. What was known as income-related Employment & Support Allowance is now part of Universal Credit and is claimable based on a means testing of household income and savings available. There is also a non means tested version of Employment & Support Allowance which is related to National Insurance contributions called ‘New Style Employment & Support Allowance’. This is not part of Universal Credit and cannot be paid at the same time as Statutory Sick Pay.

Let’s say that Bob is still off work sick after his Statutory Sick Pay ends (28 weeks).

Citizens Advice recommends that the application for New Style Employment & Support Allowance should be submitted around 3 months before the end of Statutory Sick Pay to help try and avoid any delays. The application to claim New Style Employment & Support Allowance and Universal Credit can be completed online or over the phone.

Assessment phase – Work Capability Assessment

Once Bob’s application has been received, he will enter the assessment phase in his application for New Style Employment & Support Allowance. The assessment phase should be 13 weeks but can take longer. The assessment phase is the time in which he will be medically assessed to see whether he will qualify for New Style Employment & Support Allowance. The assessment is called the ‘Work Capability Assessment’. 

The Work Capability Assessment can be in person, by video call or on the phone, there will also be a ‘Capability for Work’ (ESA50) health questionnaire. For employed people, the assessment phase should take place between week 28 (when Statutory Sick Pay ends) and week 41. During the assessment phase, Bob will receive a benefit of £92.05 a week. If Bob had been under the age of 25, he would have received £71.70 a week. 

Outcomes to the Work Capability Assessment

There are effectively 3 outcomes for claimants of New Style Employment and Support Allowance.

• Work Related Activity Group
• Support Group
• Fit for Work

Let’s say the DWP has decided that Bob cannot work but could do ‘work-related activity’, they could put him in the work-related activity group of Employment and Support Allowance. Or he could qualify for the ‘limited capability for work’ element of Universal Credit.

Bob could receive a benefit of up to £92.05 a week in the ‘Work Related Activity Group’. This is called the ‘main phase basic allowance’ which is the same monetary amount of benefit he would have been receiving during the assessment phase (based on the tax year 2025/26). If Bob was put in the Support Group, he could claim the ‘main phase basic allowance’ (£92.05) plus the ‘support component’ (£48.50). This could mean a weekly benefit payment of £140.55.

However, claimants who qualify for the support group are typically people who are so severely ill or disabled and it is unreasonable to require them to engage in work-related activity as a condition for receiving New Style Employment and Support Allowance. The other outcome that Bob could receive following his Work Capability Assessment is that he is classed as ‘Fit for Work’ and will not receive any benefit for New Style Employment and Support Allowance. 

Reconsiderations and appeals

If Bob is unhappy with the outcome, he has the right to ask for a mandatory reconsideration in the first instance. Bob must apply for a mandatory reconsideration within one month of the date on his decision letter. The mandatory reconsideration is a process in which the DWP will review the application for New Style Employment and Support Allowance again.

Once the reconsideration outcome is received, Bob could still be unhappy. He could still be classed as ‘fit for work’ regardless of how long he has been off work so far and what his own GP might have told him. At this point he could lodge an appeal. The appeal would take place in front of an independent tribunal.

The DWP periodically publishes Employment and Support Allowance: outcomes of Work Capability Assessments. The latest report suggests that in January 2025, approximately 60% of mandatory reconsideration decisions led to a change in award.

Can he get Support for Mortgage Interest?

Another state benefit Bob could potentially claim is Support for Mortgage Interest. Support for Mortgage Interest is a loan which has the aim to help claimants pay the interest payments on their mortgage or other loans for home purchase, repairs and home improvements. Support for Mortgage Interest usually helps pay the interest on up to £200,000 of a loan or mortgage. However, this is usually £100,000 for those receiving Pension Credit. 

But this is a loan – not a benefit. The loan will accrue interest at a rate set by the DWP and must be repaid when the claimant sells or transfers ownership of the property (provided there is enough equity in the property).

Homeowners (or people treated as liable for owner-occupier payments) who are entitled to one of the following benefits could qualify for Support for Mortgage Interest: 

• Income Support
• Income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance
• Income-related Employment and Support Allowance
• Pension Credit
• Universal Credit 

So, let’s say Bob applies for a Support for Mortgage Interest because he has been off work sick and needs help to meet his financial obligations as well as his mortgage payments. Bob has a mortgage of £200,000 with a term of 30 years. His mortgage is capital and interest (repayment). The interest rate is 4% fixed for 5 years and his monthly mortgage payment is £716 a month.

If Bob is claiming one of the above benefits, once the 39 week waiting period has passed he could receive the Support for Mortgage Interest. People who are in receipt of Pension Credit do not have a waiting period. 

If Bob is successful in his application for Support for Mortgage Interest, and if the interest rate for SMI was 3.66%*, he could expect to receive around £610 a month to help with mortgage interest costs. Interest would accrue on the amount of loan paid to Bob at a higher rate of interest.

*This interest rate is for illustration purposes only. The rates of interest are set by the DWP and published on the Support for Mortgage Interest (SMI): What you'll get page.

The DWP will not do a credit check on applicants for Support for Mortgage Interest.  

Are there any other benefits he can claim?

Bob could potentially claim other state benefits depending upon his circumstances. However, it is very difficult to accurately portray what a claimant could qualify for without taking many other factors into consideration.

Eligibility for various benefits change frequently. Here are some of the factors which directly affect whether a claimant would qualify for any type of state benefit:

• age
• employment status
• income
• partners age
• savings
• investments
• children
• age of children
• level of National Insurance contributions paid
• amount of mortgage
• interest Rate of mortgage
• being in receipt of other benefits