Employment and Support Allowance
From 27 October 2008 Employment and Support Allowance replaced Incapacity Benefit and Income Support paid on incapacity grounds for new customers. This page explains where you can find information about Employment and Support Allowance.
Advisers and customer representative groups
Detailed technical information about Employment and Support Allowance is available in the Decision Makers Guide and elsewhere.
- Employment and Support Allowance claimant journey
- Decision Makers' Guide Volume 8 – Employment and Support Allowance
- Legislation – Employment and Support Allowance Regulations 2008
- DWP1001 – Employment and Support Allowance – Help if you are ill or disabled (434KB)

- ESA40 – Employment and Support Allowance claim form notes (139KB)

- The Work Capability Assessment (ESA214) (a detailed 31 page guide) (205KB)
Healthcare professionals
Iinformation about Employment and Support Allowance for healthcare professionals is available in the DWP health and work section of the DWP website.
Customers
To claim Employment and Support Allowance or for more information, visit www.gov.uk.
To start your claim, please call 0800 055 66 88
Customers with speech or hearing difficulties can contact us using a 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.
