SSP to ESA: What to Do When Your Statutory Sick Pay Runs Out

Updated October 2026

Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) lasts for up to 28 weeks. If you are still too ill to work when it runs out, the usual next step is New Style Employment and Support Allowance (ESA), and you can apply for it up to 3 months before your SSP ends so the money follows on without a gap. You cannot be paid both at once: New Style ESA starts as soon as your SSP stops. Your employer should give you form SSP1, which confirms why your SSP is ending and the last day it is paid, and you will need a fit note that covers the days after it ends. You may also be able to claim Universal Credit at the same time or instead.

The Short Answer

• When to apply: up to 3 months before your SSP ends. New Style ESA starts as soon as your SSP ends, not alongside it.
• What you need: your National Insurance number, bank details, your doctor's details, a fit note and the date your SSP ends. Your employer's SSP1 confirms that date.
• No waiting days: if your ESA starts within 12 weeks of your SSP ending, the usual 7 unpaid waiting days do not apply.
• Still on employer sick pay? DWP guidance says employer's sick pay is not treated as earnings for New Style ESA, so half pay does not stop a claim. Pensions and some health insurance payments over £85 a week are different.
• Universal Credit: you can claim it as well or instead. SSP counts as earnings for Universal Credit, and New Style ESA reduces it pound for pound.
• What comes next: the WCA50 questionnaire usually arrives within 4 weeks of your first ESA payment, then the Work Capability Assessment.

How Statutory Sick Pay Works in 2026

The SSP rules changed on 6 April 2026. HMRC guidance says SSP is now available to all eligible employees regardless of their earnings, is payable from the first full day of sickness absence and is paid at 80% of average weekly earnings or the flat rate of £123.25 a week, whichever is lower. Acas describes it as the end of the 3 "waiting days" and of the lower earnings threshold. The 80% figure only bites if your average weekly earnings are below about £154.

What has not changed is the limit: GOV.UK says SSP is paid for up to 28 weeks. Three rules from GOV.UK's employer guidance also matter:

• Separate spells of sickness count as one if each lasts at least one full working day and they are 8 weeks or less apart, so the 28 weeks can be used up across several shorter absences.
• An employee stops being eligible for SSP once a continuous series of linked spells goes on for more than 3 years.
• You cannot get SSP from an employer if you received ESA within 12 weeks of starting or returning to work for them.

Self-employed people do not get SSP, so they can apply for ESA without waiting for sick pay to end.

The Timeline: From Your First Day Off Sick to ESA

Plan backwards from your last day of SSP. These are the dates that matter.

A worked example, for illustration only. Suppose your first full day off sick was Monday 4 May 2026 and you have been off ever since.

• Week 23 of your absence begins on Monday 5 October 2026, so your SSP1 should reach you by then.
• Your 28 weeks run to about Sunday 15 November 2026. The SSP1 gives the actual last day, because it depends on the days you normally work.
• You could have applied for New Style ESA from mid-August 2026, 3 months before SSP ends. If you have not applied yet, do it now.
• New Style ESA would start on Monday 16 November 2026, without waiting days.
• The assessment rate would normally run to mid-February 2027, or longer if the assessment is not decided by then.

Our WCA timeline for 2026 picks up the story from the questionnaire to the decision.

Form SSP1: Your Employer's Part

The SSP1 is the employer's form that says why your SSP is ending and the last day it will be paid. GOV.UK's employer guide says it must be sent:

• on or before the beginning of the 23rd week, if your SSP is expected to end before your sickness does;
• within 7 days of your SSP ending, if it ends unexpectedly while you are still sick;
• within 7 days of your first day off sick, if you do not qualify for SSP at all.

Your employer can also complete it early if it knows you will be off for more than 28 weeks. DWP staff guidance on New Style ESA says the claimant must provide an SSP1 from their employer to confirm why SSP has stopped and the final date of payment.

If week 23 has passed with nothing, ask HR for it in writing and keep a copy. Do not hold back your ESA claim meanwhile: the application asks for the date your SSP ends, and GOV.UK says the DWP contacts you after you apply to tell you what evidence to send and where. Send the SSP1 then. Ask your employer for copies of any fit notes it holds, too, because they show your sickness has been continuous.

How to Claim New Style ESA Before Your SSP Ends

1. Check the window. Count back 3 months from your last day of SSP. From that date you can apply, and earlier is better.
2. Get your fit note sorted. GOV.UK lists a fit note among the things you need if you have not been able to work for more than 7 days in a row. Make sure it runs past your last day of SSP. Our guide on how to send a fit note for ESA explains who can issue one and how to send it.
3. Gather your details. Your National Insurance number, the account number and sort code of your bank or building society, your doctor's name, address and phone number, details of any income if you are working and the date your SSP ends.
4. Apply. Apply online through GOV.UK. If you cannot apply online, or you are applying as someone's appointee, ring the Jobcentre Plus new claims line on 0800 055 6688 (Relay UK: 18001 then 0800 055 6688; Welsh language: 0800 328 1744), Monday to Friday, 8am to 5pm.
5. Wait for the call. GOV.UK says the DWP usually contacts you within 10 working days of applying, but warns it is currently taking longer than usual. You will be told what evidence to send, including the SSP1.
6. Agree your Claimant Commitment. You may need an appointment with a work coach, usually by phone, and you must accept the Claimant Commitment to keep getting paid.

Our step-by-step guide on how to apply for ESA covers the claim itself in more detail.

Will You Qualify? The National Insurance Test

New Style ESA is contribution-based. GOV.UK says you need to have worked as an employee or been self-employed and paid enough National Insurance contributions, usually in the last 2 to 3 years, and that National Insurance credits also count. Citizens Advice gives the tax years for 2026 claims as 2023-24 and 2024-25. The full test, including which year counts when your claim crosses the new year, is in our guide to contribution-based ESA eligibility.

One trap is new in 2026. SSP no longer has an earnings threshold, so getting SSP proves nothing about your National Insurance record: a lower-paid or part-time worker can get SSP and still fall short for New Style ESA. GOV.UK's Check your National Insurance record service shows what you have paid and any credits. If you are unsure, Citizens Advice says to apply anyway, because the DWP checks your record.

New Style ESA has no savings test. DWP staff guidance gives the example of people with capital over £16,000, who cannot get Universal Credit but might still qualify for New Style ESA. Our guide to ESA and savings sets out the limits for each benefit.

Still Getting Pay From Your Employer?

Many contracts pay company sick pay, sometimes dropping to half pay. When your 28 weeks of SSP end you may still be getting some, and many people assume that rules out ESA. It does not. DWP staff guidance on New Style ESA says:

• claimants receiving employer's sick pay may be entitled to New Style ESA at the same time;
• employer's sick pay is not treated as earnings and is not taken into account for New Style ESA.

What can reduce New Style ESA is a different kind of income. GOV.UK says your payments are affected if you get more than £85 a week from a private pension, and Citizens Advice lists occupational or personal pensions, permanent health insurance payments and payments from the Pension Protection Fund or Financial Assistance Scheme. In each case the first £85 a week is ignored and half of the rest is taken off your ESA. If your employer moves you onto an income protection or health insurance policy, check which category it falls into.

The same DWP guidance notes that New Style ESA counts as taxable income, unlike Universal Credit, and that you are credited with Class 1 National Insurance while entitled to it, which counts towards your State Pension and future contribution-based benefits.

Universal Credit: As Well as ESA, or Instead

GOV.UK says you might be able to get Universal Credit at the same time as New Style ESA or instead of it, and that if you get both, your Universal Credit is reduced by the amount of New Style ESA. Universal Credit is means-tested; New Style ESA is not. Our guide to ESA and Universal Credit together works through how the two add up.

You can claim Universal Credit while still on SSP if your household qualifies. The Universal Credit Regulations 2013 count SSP as employed earnings (regulation 55), just like wages and any other pay from your employer. That is the big difference from New Style ESA, where employer's sick pay is ignored.

The same Work Capability Assessment decides the health part of Universal Credit. GOV.UK gives the LCWRA amount as £429.80 a month for a severe condition that is unlikely to change or for people nearing the end of life and £217.26 a month otherwise, with different rules if you reported your condition before 6 April 2026. See the LCWRA waiting period for why giving Universal Credit your fit notes early usually starts its 3-month clock sooner.

What Happens After You Claim: The WCA

Moving to ESA starts the Work Capability Assessment. GOV.UK sets out the sequence:

• You are paid the assessment rate, normally for 13 weeks while your claim is assessed, and you stay on it until a decision can be made.
• The WCA50 questionnaire is sent in the post, usually within 4 weeks of your first payment, and GOV.UK says to send it back within 28 days of receiving it.
• You may then have an assessment in person, by video call or on the phone.
• The decision either places you in the work-related activity group or the support group, or finds that you do not have limited capability for work.

The figures are from GOV.UK. ESA is paid every 2 weeks.

The WCA50 is your main chance to explain how your condition affects you. The points come not from your diagnosis or job title but from what you can and cannot do reliably across 17 activities; our guide on how to fill in the WCA50 goes through it section by section. While you are still on SSP, start a symptom diary and ask your GP or consultant for a supporting letter, so the evidence is ready when the form arrives.

Missed the Date? Backdating and Gaps

If your SSP has already ended and you have not claimed, claim straight away. Under regulation 28 of SI 2013/380, an ESA claim must be made on the first day it covers or within the 3 months after it, so New Style ESA can usually be backdated up to 3 months if you met the conditions, normally shown by fit notes. You have to ask for it when you claim; our guide to ESA backdating explains how.

Leave it longer than 3 months and the time before that cannot be backdated. Leave it longer still, so that your ESA cannot start until more than 12 weeks after your SSP ended, and the 7 waiting days normally apply as well.

If You Go Back to Work Later

GOV.UK's employer guidance says you cannot get SSP from an employer if you received ESA within 12 weeks of starting or returning to work for them. So if a return to work does not hold and you fall ill again soon, contact the DWP about ESA straight away rather than waiting for sick pay that will not come.

Some work is allowed while on ESA, within limits on hours and earnings; our guide to permitted work explains what counts.

Common Mistakes When SSP Ends

1. Waiting for SSP to end before applying. Use the 3-month advance window.
2. Assuming your employer will sort the SSP1 on time. Diary the start of week 23 and ask for it if it has not arrived.
3. Letting a fit note lapse at the changeover. A gap in medical evidence can hold up your payments.
4. Thinking company sick pay or half pay rules out ESA. For New Style ESA it does not; pensions and some insurance payments over £85 a week are a different matter.
5. Thinking you must leave your job to claim. GOV.UK says you can apply if you are employed. For questions about your job itself, Acas gives free advice.
6. Not checking your National Insurance record. Since April 2026, SSP is no guide to whether you qualify for New Style ESA.
7. Forgetting Universal Credit. If your household income is low or your contributions fall short, it may be the benefit that pays.

Claiming ESA does not stop you claiming Personal Independence Payment either: GOV.UK says you can get PIP even if you are working, have savings or are getting most other benefits.

Official sources

This guide reflects the official Statutory Sick Pay and ESA rules. For the source material, see:

• GOV.UK - Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) and HMRC - Sickness absences that start before and end on or after 6 April 2026
• GOV.UK - Statutory Sick Pay: employer guide, eligibility and form SSP1
• GOV.UK - Employment and Support Allowance: eligibility, how to claim, what you'll get and your ESA claim
• GOV.UK - New Style Employment and Support Allowance: detailed guide
• DWP staff guidance - New Style ESA only claims (deposited in Parliament, DEP2024-0673)
• Employment and Support Allowance Regulations 2013, regulation 85 (waiting days), SI 2013/380, regulation 28 (time limit for an ESA claim) and Universal Credit Regulations 2013, regulation 55
• Acas - Statutory sick pay changes 2026
• Citizens Advice - Check if you can claim new style ESA and how much new style ESA you can get

Guidance only, not legal advice. Rules can change - always check GOV.UK for the latest.

Frequently Asked Questions

Related Guides

• How to apply for ESA
• Contribution-based ESA eligibility
• The ESA assessment rate: the first 13 weeks
• How to send a fit note for ESA
• ESA and Universal Credit together
• WCA timeline 2026: every stage