You can get New Style ESA and Universal Credit at the same time. But if you get both, your Universal Credit payment is reduced by the full amount of your New Style ESA, so while you’re getting Universal Credit, New Style ESA usually doesn’t add to your income. It can still be worth claiming, for the reasons below.
Correction, 8 October 2026: an earlier version of this page said New Style ESA reduces Universal Credit by 55p for every £1, and that claiming both leaves you better off. That was wrong: Universal Credit is reduced by the full amount of your New Style ESA. Thank you to the money adviser who told us.
New Style ESA: the basics
New Style Employment and Support Allowance is a contributory benefit for people whose illness, health condition or disability limits their ability to work.
| Detail | Rule |
|---|---|
| National Insurance | You’ve paid or been credited with enough National Insurance contributions in the 2 full tax years before the year you claim in |
| Means-tested? | No: your savings, and your partner’s savings or work, don’t affect it. A personal pension can reduce it |
| While your claim is assessed | Normally 13 weeks, at the assessment rate |
| Assessment rate, under 25 | Up to £75.65 a week |
| Assessment rate, 25 or over | Up to £95.55 a week |
| Work-related activity group | Up to £95.55 a week, at any age |
| Support group | Up to £145.90 a week, at any age |
| How long it lasts | 365 days in the work-related activity group; no time limit in the support group |
If it takes longer than 13 weeks to assess your claim, you stay on the assessment rate until you get a decision, and your ESA is backdated if you’re owed any money.
How Universal Credit treats New Style ESA
DWP says that if you get both benefits, your Universal Credit payment is reduced by the amount you get for New Style ESA. In the Universal Credit rules, New Style ESA is unearned income, and all of your unearned income is taken off your Universal Credit. The 55p taper applies only to what you earn from work (Universal Credit Regulations 2013, regulations 22 and 66).
Example. Without New Style ESA you’d get Universal Credit of £1,000 a month. You qualify for New Style ESA at the assessment rate of £95.55 a week, which is £414.05 a month. Your Universal Credit goes down by the same amount, to £585.95, so you get £1,000 a month in total: the same as Universal Credit alone.
If your New Style ESA is more than the Universal Credit you’d otherwise get, your Universal Credit stops and you keep the New Style ESA.
Why claim New Style ESA if you get Universal Credit
DWP gives these reasons:
- Savings don’t matter. Your savings, and your partner’s, don’t affect New Style ESA. You can get it even if the two of you have more than £16,000 in savings, when you can’t get Universal Credit.
- Your partner’s work doesn’t matter. If your partner works, it doesn’t affect your New Style ESA, so it carries on if your Universal Credit falls or stops because of their earnings.
- National Insurance credits. While you get New Style ESA you earn Class 1 National Insurance credits, which can help towards your State Pension and other contributory benefits.
- A regular payment. It’s paid every 2 weeks.
The LCWRA element and the ESA support group
Both depend on the Work Capability Assessment, and if you claim both benefits you only have one assessment.
| Payment | Amount | How it’s paid |
|---|---|---|
| UC LCWRA element, if you have a severe health condition or disability that’s unlikely to change, or you’re nearing the end of your life | £429.80 a month | Part of your Universal Credit |
| UC LCWRA element, if your condition is assessed as less severe or may improve over time | £217.26 a month | Part of your Universal Credit |
| New Style ESA support group | Up to £145.90 a week | A separate payment |
Different rules apply if you reported a health condition to Universal Credit before 6 April 2026. You can get the LCWRA element and the ESA support group at the same time, but your New Style ESA is still taken off your Universal Credit in full, so the support group rate doesn’t add to your total while you’re getting Universal Credit.
How to claim both
- Claim Universal Credit at gov.uk/universal-credit, and tell DWP about your health condition.
- Claim New Style ESA separately at gov.uk/employment-support-allowance. It’s a different claim.
- Have one Work Capability Assessment. If you need one, it decides both claims.
Who should claim New Style ESA
- Anyone whose health limits their ability to work and who has paid or been credited with enough National Insurance contributions in the 2 full tax years before the year they claim in.
- Especially if your partner works, or you and your partner have savings over £16,000: you may get little or no Universal Credit, but your New Style ESA isn’t affected.
See our UC work requirements and health guide, benefits for disabled workers and Universal Credit guide.