Start Permitted Work

Is anyone aware of restrictions of starting permitted work on ESA, I have been advised you must claim ESA 52 weeks before you can start permitted work, I believed you could start at any point but can only do higher permitted work for 52weeks?

There is no need to have been claiming ESA for a period first - you can do from start of claim but, as you say, you can only do higher limit permitted work for 52 weeks. Once you have done 52 weeks on higher limit permitted work (even if you didn’t work all the weeks) you then have to wait 52 weeks before you can do it again - maybe that is what the person advising you was getting at? (see cpag pg 1011 for more info)