Mortgage interest for ESA client moving back to property

All advice appreciated.

Client currently in receipt of ESA(C) has been in hospital for several months and wants to return to their property and claim income related ESA so that they can make a claim for their mortgage (property was previously let to private tenant).

Is it possible for the waiting period to be waived to allow client to be deemed eligible for SMI from the date they return to their property even though their award has been contributory ESA only to date.

Time spent on ESA counts towards the waiting period - see CPAG pg 451 - so if your client has already had 39 weeks on ESA they should be able to qualify for SMI straight away - they will need to let ESA know they want to be assessed for income-related ESA including SMI and probably complete a form related to their income/savings (ESA3?)

Thanks Daphne 😊