Employment and Support Allowance
Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) is a benefit for people under State Pension age who have an illness or disability that affects how much they can work.
Can I claim Employment and Support Allowance for cancer?
Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) is a benefit for people under State Pension age who have an illness or disability that affects how much they can work. This may include cancer or another illness if it limits your ability to work.
ESA can provide:
- money to help with living costs if you cannot work
- support to return to work if you can.
Old style and new style ESA
There are different types of ESA:
- Old style ESA includes both contribution-based ESA and income-related ESA.
- New style ESA includes only contribution-based ESA. Income-related ESA has been replaced by Universal Credit.
You can only make a new claim for new style ESA. You can continue claiming contribution-based ESA and income-related ESA if you have an existing claim.
You may be able to claim new style ESA if you have paid enough National Insurance within the last 2 to 3 years. You can check your National Insurance record on GOV.UK.
ESA and Universal Credit
If your income and savings are low, you could get Universal Credit at the same time or instead of new style ESA. If you get both benefits, your Universal Credit payment will be reduced by the amount you get for new style ESA.
Get advice before claiming Universal Credit if you are already receiving old style ESA or Housing Benefit.
Related pages
Booklets and resources
How do I apply for ESA?
How you apply for ESA depends on the area of the UK you are in. Find out more in our guide to claiming ESA.
Related pages
How much ESA will I get?
You will be paid the assessment rate while a decision is made about your ESA claim. The assessment period is 13 weeks.
After you have been assessed, you will learn whether you qualify for an extra amount of ESA. If you do, you will be put into 1 of these groups:
- Work-related activity group – for people who have limited capability for work (LCW) but can do some activities that may help them work in the future.
- Support group – for people with an illness or disability that means they have limited capability for work and work-related activity (LCWRA).
The amount you get is different in each group. Find out more at GOV.UK.
The payments you get may change. For example, you may be in the Support group while you have cancer treatment. But when treatment has finished, you may be put in the Work-related activity group to help you prepare for a return to work. This would depend on many things, including your treatment plan and expected outcome (prognosis).
When will I receive my first payment?
If your claim is accepted, you will get your first payment in a few weeks.
Your ESA will usually be paid every 2 weeks into your bank, building society or credit union account.
If you need to be paid sooner, you can apply for an advance on your first payment.
If you would like more information about your situation and when you will receive your first payment, you can call our Support Line for free on 0808 808 00 00.
Can I work while claiming ESA?
In most cases, you cannot claim ESA if you are working. But there are some exceptions:
- Permitted work - you may be allowed to do a certain amount of work.
- Supported permitted work – this could be work under medical supervision as part of a treatment programme while you are in hospital. Or work that is supervised by someone whose job is to help arrange work for Disabled people.
- Unpaid voluntary work, or unpaid work experience.
If you want to start any of these types of work, you must tell the service that provides your benefit:
- The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) in England, Scotland and Wales
- The Department for Communities (DfC) in Northern Ireland.
You should also get advice about how working might affect your benefits.
For more information on permitted work, visit GOV.UK.
What do I do if my circumstances change?
If your circumstances change this can affect the amount of ESA you get. You must report a change of circumstance as soon as possible because this could affect your benefits claim.
Changes you need to report include the following:
- Changes to your medical condition or disability – for example, if there are changes to your cancer diagnosis or treatment plan
- Going into hospital
- Changing your doctor
- Starting or stopping work, training, education or an apprenticeship
- Moving house
- Starting to receive payments from a pension.
What other financial support is available?
You may be able to claim other benefits to help with the cost of living with cancer. These may include:
- Personal Independence Payment (PIP) - a benefit for people aged 16 to State Pension age. It is for people who have problems with daily living or moving around. It has replaced Disability Living Allowance (DLA) for adults in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
- Adult Disability Payment (ADP) - a benefit for people under State Pension age living in Scotland who have problems with everyday tasks, getting around or both due to long term health conditions or disability. It has replaced Personal Independence Payment (PIP) and Disability Living Allowance (DLA) for adults in Scotland.
- Universal Credit - a benefit for people under State Pension age who are out of work or on a low income.
We are here to help if you have questions about these or other benefits. Call us free on 0808 808 00 00 to talk to a Macmillan money adviser, Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm.
About our information
This information has been written, revised and edited by Macmillan Cancer Support’s Cancer Information Development team. It has been reviewed by expert medical and health professionals and people living with cancer.
-
References
Below is a sample of the sources used in our benefits information. If you would like more information about the sources we use, please contact us at informationproductionteam@macmillan.org.uk
GOV.UK www.gov.uk [accessed May 2025].
NI Direct www.nidirect.gov.uk [accessed May 2025].
Social Security Scotland www.socialsecurity.gov.scot [accessed May 2025].
Macmillan Welfare Rights Team
Reviewer
Date reviewed
Our cancer information meets the PIF TICK quality mark.
This means it is easy to use, up-to-date and based on the latest evidence. Learn more about how we produce our information.
The language we use
We want everyone affected by cancer to feel our information is written for them.
We want our information to be as clear as possible. To do this, we try to:
- use plain English
- explain medical words
- use short sentences
- use illustrations to explain text
- structure the information clearly
- make sure important points are clear.
We use gender-inclusive language and talk to our readers as ‘you’ so that everyone feels included. Where clinically necessary we use the terms ‘men’ and ‘women’ or ‘male’ and ‘female’. For example, we do so when talking about parts of the body or mentioning statistics or research about who is affected.
You can read more about how we produce our information here.