Conversion to ESA and Time limiting Cont. based ESA

To answer your main question : Yes, the 12 month rule applies to all ESA claimants who are in the Work Related Activity Group(whether new claimants or IS/IB claimants transferred over) and there does not seem to be any transitional protection.

Thanks - the sheet is very helpful.

The second part to my query really belongs under a different part of the forum, but how would others deal with the issue of justifying work where there is no immediate financial benefit to the client, as in this case? This is not the first one that I have had with IIDB - e.g apart from the obvious cases where the IIDB is reducing a means -tesated benefit pound for pound, arrears of IIDB after a successful appeal will lead to a re-assessment of HB/CTB (if on partial benefit) over the whole period, swallowing up most of the arrears.

I am fortunate in that I do not have to “justify” work that I do for clients in the same way that colleagues who rely on external funding do.  However, I still wouldn’t waste my time on a hopeless case or where there was no obvious benefit to the client.

However, there are other issues which may influence a decision regarding IIDB cases.  Firstly, there may come a time when that person is not dependant on a means-tested benefit, in which case they would receive IIDB payment in full.  Secondly, and important for a person who is still in, or is likely to return to, work, should they be unfortunate enough to incur a further industrial accident, then any percentage disablement from the first accident is added to that of subsequent accidents, so they may qualify in the future.  In some areas it is not uncommon to come across clients who have suffered 3 or more industrial accidents.