This guide to Employment and Support Allowance aims to support the work of advisers, customer representative groups and healthcare professionals.
Working for a better life
The principle of Employment and Support Allowance is that everyone should have the opportunity to work and that people with an illness or disability should get the support they need to engage in appropriate work, if they are able.
In Great Britain, over 2.6 million people depend on incapacity benefits, and yet nine out of ten new customers say that they want to return to work.
There is a body of evidence that people are better off in work – not only financially, but in terms of their health and well-being, their self-esteem and the future prospects for themselves and their family.
Key information
We have prepared answers to some basic questions you may have and we have provided more technical information in a series of factsheets.
For healthcare professionals
Employment and Support Allowance will not mean big changes to the way you deal with patients or the paperwork you need to complete but some of the forms are changing.
Information for customers
To claim Employment and Support Allowance or for more information, visit the Jobcentre Plus website.
To start your claim, please call 0800 055 66 88
Customers with speech or hearing difficulties can call our textphone on 0800 023 48 88
Calls to 0800 numbers are free from BT landlines but you may have to pay if you use another phone company, a mobile phone, or if you are calling from abroad.