Forum Home → Discussion → Work capability issues and ESA → Thread
ESA and the Claimant Commitment agreement
Hi there, hoping someone can clear up a, hopefully easy question:
Client is on Income based ESA in the LCW group. He is concerned that they will start to make him do volunteer work and was worried about getting sanctioned if he said no. This could happen to him but my question is; should the DWP still be using claimant commitment agreements for ESA as a basis of what the claimant should and should not be expected to do? He didn’t seem to be aware of the term and was sure that he never discussed it or signed anything similar.
My advice would be to check in his claimant commitment agreement (or to see if he definitely doesn’t have one) to see what is is expected to do, or yes, unfortunately there is a chance he could be sanctioned. If he doesn’t have it he should discuss an agreement with this work coach.
Thank you for any help./advice in advance.
The claimant commitment only exists for Universal Credit claimants.
Your client might be asked to work focussed interviews and work preparation requirements, see p.1038-39 of CPAH 2023/24 for more details of what this can entail. I’m not certain whether they can mandate that you do voluntary work as part of work preparation though?
The claimant commitment only exists for Universal Credit claimants.
Your client might be asked to work focussed interviews and work preparation requirements, see p.1038-39 of CPAH 2023/24 for more details of what this can entail. I’m not certain whether they can mandate that you do voluntary work as part of work preparation though?
Oh I see, thank you for that, I’m clearly not as up to date as I thought I was. Glad I checked first! Did claimant commitment agreements used to be in force for ESA? I could swear I had a few clients a few years ago explicitly talk about it.
I think the claimant is scared they will force him to do any type of work related activity, volunteering being an example he cited that he and his work coach discussed. ( he thinks he should have been placed in the support group)
Claimant commitments weren’t invented with ESA, but were inserted into it by s57 of the Welfare Reform Act 2012.
gov.uk still refers to work coaches and claimant commitments for ESA claimants.
Reg 44(4) of the 2013 ESA Regs says that a claimant commitment can be agreed verbally by phone, they don’t need to be physically signed:
The claimant commitment is only a feature in respect of new-style ESA. As we are dealing with old-style ESA - because we are told that it is income-related - there is no claimant commitment.
Sorry yes, thanks Eliot, I missed that part of the question. Some ESA claimants get commitments, just not in this case.
Yes thanks, forgot about New Style having CC’s but not relevant in this case.
Brilliant thanks everyone you’ve been super helpful.