When SSP ends, is refused, or is disputed
SSP ends when you return to work, when you no longer qualify, or when you reach 28 weeks. It can also be refused from the start if you do not meet the test. In every refusal and ending case, your employer owes you form SSP1, a reason, and a route to challenge the decision. This page sets out the deadlines and the next steps in order.
Form SSP1: the deadlines
Not eligible: your employer must send form SSP1 within 7 days of your first day off sick. SSP ending unexpectedly while you are still sick: within 7 days of SSP ending. SSP expected to end before your sickness does: on or before the beginning of the 23rd week. Long absence known to exceed 28 weeks: form SSP1 can be completed early so an ESA claim can start before SSP ends.
Step 1: ask your employer for the reason
If you think a decision not to pay SSP is wrong, or you are not getting the right amount, talk to your employer first and ask for the reason in writing. Many errors are payroll errors — a wrong qualifying-day pattern, an old waiting-days calculation, an 8-week average worked out from the wrong weeks — and a written query with your own dates and figures resolves them. Keep copies of everything: your notification messages, fit notes, payslips, and the employer's replies.
Step 2: the HMRC Statutory Payment Disputes Team
If the employer does not resolve the problem, contact the HMRC Statutory Payment Disputes Team (telephone 0300 322 9422, as published on GOV.UK). HMRC can decide whether SSP is payable and how much is due. Form SSP1 itself tells you how to appeal. A dispute does not require a solicitor, and you should not let an employer present HMRC as a last resort you cannot use: it is the designated route, and it exists precisely for employees whose employer has the calculation or the eligibility test wrong.
Step 3: ESA and Universal Credit
If you are not eligible for SSP, or your SSP ends, you may be able to apply for Universal Credit or Employment and Support Allowance. ESA is contribution-based and depends on your National Insurance record and a Work Capability Assessment; Universal Credit is means-tested on household income and savings. Many people in this position claim Universal Credit for living costs while an ESA claim is assessed, and the two systems interact — which is why form SSP1 matters: it gives the Department for Work and Pensions the dates and reasons behind your SSP position. Apply promptly, because benefit claims are rarely backdated to cover a gap you left while waiting.
Special cases
Employer stops trading or becomes insolvent. You may still have to be paid SSP, and HMRC pays SSP for employees who continue to work for an insolvent employer and were sick when insolvency began; tell the employee to contact the Statutory Payment Disputes Team, and if your contract is terminated while you are still sick, ask for a completed SSP1 so you can claim ESA instead. Pregnancy-related absence. Special rules apply in the 4 weeks before the week your baby is due, and Statutory Maternity Pay interacts with SSP — check GOV.UK for your dates rather than assuming SSP continues. Returning to work, then sick again. A return followed by sickness within 8 weeks links the absences (see linked periods), so a fresh 28 weeks does not automatically start.
A checklist for the week SSP ends
Confirm you have form SSP1 and the employer's reason. Check the 23rd-week or 7-day deadline was met. Start the ESA or Universal Credit application without waiting for SSP money to stop. Keep fit notes running until a new decision-maker tells you otherwise. And note the date you returned to work, or expect to, because return dates drive linking, the 3-year series limit, and any future SSP period.