As of 13 August 2026, AI can only partly check your New Style ESA eligibility.

This still needs a person who signs their name to it.

Can you do it?

5 minutesto a draft.

30 minutesto something you’d act on.

Cost, all in£0

Skill neededchat-fluent

Who has to check ityou

What the alternative costsThe supplied tool data does not give a price for a benefits adviser or welfare rights service.

If this goes wrong: you misunderstand the contribution or health rules, delay a claim and receive less support than you expected.

What to actually do

Hand it to a person
The route this page recommends
A person who owns the outcome does this end to end, worth it when the failure is dear.
Use a tool built for this
Second choice

Do it yourself

The distant third

A chat interface, chat-fluent skill, and roughly 30 minutes until you can act on the result.

How to actually do it

Open the New Style ESA guidance on GOV.UK and the HMRC page where you can check your National Insurance record.
Gather your employment and self-employment dates, payslips or other contribution evidence, current fit note or Statutory Sick Pay details, and a plain description of how your health affects work.
Paste the information into the prompt, keeping confirmed facts separate from anything you are unsure about and removing unnecessary identifying details.
Ask the chatbot to produce the preliminary result, missing-information list and GOV.UK links requested in the prompt.
Compare each stated rule and link with the live GOV.UK guidance, and compare the contribution discussion with your HMRC record.
Use the missing-information list to obtain records from HMRC, your employer or your GP where appropriate, then contact the DWP or a qualified welfare rights adviser about unresolved points.
Make the New Style ESA claim through the official GOV.UK route, giving complete and accurate information rather than copying an unverified AI conclusion.

Prompt

Help me make a preliminary check of whether I may be eligible for New Style ESA in the UK. This is not professional advice, and the DWP makes the final decision.

Use only current official UK sources, especially GOV.UK, and link to the relevant pages. Do not invent rules, figures or missing facts. If a rule may have changed or you cannot verify it, say so clearly.

My information:
- Country and benefit jurisdiction: [England, Scotland or Wales]
- Current work status: [details]
- Recent employment and self-employment history, including dates: [details]
- National Insurance contribution record or HMRC information: [details]
- Health condition or disability and how it affects my ability to work: [details]
- Current fit note, Statutory Sick Pay or other benefits: [details]
- Other relevant circumstances: [details]

Please:
1. Separate the facts I supplied from assumptions or missing information.
2. Explain the main New Style ESA eligibility conditions that appear relevant, including National Insurance contributions and capability for work.
3. State whether the result is likely eligible, possibly eligible, or not enough information, without presenting it as a decision.
4. List the exact records or evidence I should obtain and where I can obtain them.
5. Explain which points only the DWP can confirm.
6. Give me a short list of questions to ask the DWP or a qualified welfare rights adviser.
7. Do not diagnose my health condition, calculate an award, or tell me to omit anything from a claim.

Open it prefilled in ChatGPT or Claude, or copy it into Gemini, which takes no prefill link.

What it gets wrong

AI cannot see the DWP records and cannot confirm whether your National Insurance contributions satisfy the relevant conditions.
It cannot assess medical evidence or decide how your health affects your capability for work.
It cannot predict the DWP decision or the outcome of an assessment.
It cannot replace the advice of a qualified welfare rights adviser when your work history, health or benefit position is disputed.
It can present an incomplete or outdated rule as settled unless you check its sources against GOV.UK.

What caps this at PARTLY: legal accountability, verification cost and stakes of error.

How we scored this

Five axes, each scored nought to two by hand: ten means AI carries the task cleanly, and the thresholds that turn a total into YES, PARTLY or NO are published in the methodology. Each axis name links to its definition.

Axis	Score (0–2)
Output	1
Inputs	1
Verification	1
Liability	1
Effort delta	2
Total	6 / 10

The methodology and its thresholds are published in full.

FAQ

Can AI tell me if I qualify for New Style ESA?: It can make a preliminary comparison using your work history, National Insurance information and health circumstances. It cannot confirm your entitlement because the DWP checks the records and makes the final decision.
What information does AI need to check New Style ESA?: Give it your recent employment or self-employment history, National Insurance record, current work situation, fit note or Statutory Sick Pay details, and a factual description of how your health affects work. Remove unnecessary personal identifiers and label anything you are unsure about.
Can AI check my National Insurance contributions for New Style ESA?: No, not directly. It can explain what to look for, but you need to check your record through HMRC and ask the DWP to confirm how it applies to your claim.
Is using AI to check New Style ESA eligibility safe?: It is suitable for organising information and preparing questions, not for treating the result as a decision. This is not professional advice; for a serious, disputed or urgent case, speak to a qualified welfare rights adviser.

Nearby answers

All Benefits & entitlements rulings

Assessed by gpt-5.6-luna (gpt-5.6-luna) on 2026-08-13, second-checked by an independent model. Wrong somewhere? Email [email protected] and it gets re-checked.

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