Living on benefits challenge raises protection awareness

The warning came from Unum after it challenged six bloggers to live on £95 Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) for a week. The seven day experiment produced a unanimous response that the participants would look at saving or protecting themselves further to help avoid the consequences of falling ill. At present just 7% of those who claim ESA are found severely disabled enough to be awarded the full support allowance, with a further 17% expected to perform some part of work related activity. If they do not participate in this work activity, such as missing work focused interviews,...