Thanks Tony.
I’m basing my theory on a course I attended when the 365 day rule first came out. I can’t remember who ran it but it wasn’t free! The tutor provided a Q & A sheet on the the 365 day ruling. I have copied the Q & A below:
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Q6. If you lose your contributory ESA, can you get in again if you then satisfy the NI contributions conditions, i.e. even if you are not in the support group?
A: Yes. Satisfying the NI conditions again is a separate way of requalifying from being put in the support group. But remember that, except in cases where the claimant was transferred to ESA from incapacity benefit, at least one of the relevant tax years that applies to the new claim must be different from (later than) those that applied to the expired claim. Where the claimant was transferred from incapacity benefit, no contribution years were involved, so they now simply have to satisfy the NI conditions on the new claim.
Where one of your tax years needs to be different, remember that under the linking rules, if you are still within a linked period of limited capability for work, the relevant tax years remain the same that applied to the original award. However, the only linking rule that applies now is the 12 week linking rule, as the 104 week linking rule has been abolished. So you would need to break your period of limited capability for work by more than 12 weeks, and then satisfy the NI contribution conditions afresh.
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Unfortunately, there are no references to regulations. I may be interpreting this wrongly but it seems to imply ESA claimants transferred from IB can reclaim if meeting the NI conditions?
Many thanks
Allan
