ESA and Students (again)!

Sorry to post on this topic again.

Client is French national, 2 children. Has claimed ESA and refused on right to reside. I will not bother you with the right to reside issue as I can deal with that.

However, even if we win on right to reside, what bothers me is this;

She is a full time student in higher education, has interrupted her studies due to stress, hence ESA claim. Her student loan has not been paid now, only CTC plus CB.

She would get IB ESA due to lack of NI, so is she does not give up her course I presume she would have to get PIP now (as she would still count as a student)? With the best will in the world I don’t think she would qualify.

If she was to give up her course, then she would no longer be a student and could in theory get IB ESA without having to get PIP?

I also don’t think she would pass a WCA anyway, so should I advise her to give up her course and claim JSA, which is abit drastic?

Many thanks!

Help somebody!

Cheers….

Well, I’ll have a stab at it as no one else has responded yet.

I agree with you. Unless she qualifies for PIP or abandons her course she won’t be entitled to IB ESA on basis she is a full time student. If she abandons the course then, RTR permitting, she has a route to IB ESA (or JSA).

I suppose the question is whether she wants/intends to resume her course? If she does, can she get by on her current income until she resumes the course and recieves her student loan again? As a LP student she should be OK for HB purposes (the RTR issue shouldn’t be a problem on basis she has RTR as a student, or presumably as the primary carer of children at school if she has worked at any point).

Anyway, I can’t see anything you’ve missed on the face of it.

Might she benefit from the provision allowing students to claim JSA if they are recovering from illness and awaiting their course and maintenance to resume?

References in this thread:
http://www.rightsnet.org.uk/forums/viewthread/3785/

Thank you very much, this has been bothering me!