Disabled school leavers starting to claim ESA from day 1 after end of term

I have posted a topic on this in the Tax Credits forum and am really hoping for urgent reply of what your experiences are

In a nutshell :18 /19 year olds leaving Special school and entering day care services, CTC states that they stop the CTC from day 1 after end of term which I tend to agree is correct as the Young persons are no longer in education /training and are not going to re-enter after the holidays, so are not registerded with careers

ESA states they cannot take the claims as Child Benefit remains in payment till 31/8, Child benefit states they will continue to pay as there is no notification from ESA ..

Last year there was no difficulty to claim ESA , obviously continuing CTC till 31/8 would be financially much better for most parents but not if it would result in a £1,000 overpayment

If, as I assume, the disabled school leavers are in receipt of DLA, I cannot see why the ESA section is refusing to take a claim - that in itself is wrong, I don’t see how they can refuse to let anyone make a claim itself.

I would escalate some sort of complaint here to the Benefit Centre you are dealing with. The amount of ESA to be paid can be offset by CHB already paid for the same period (regulation 5 of the Social Security (Payments on account, Overpayments and Recovery) Regulations) but it certainly doesnt mean that ESA cannot be claimed or, indeed, awarded.

Brian