Mental Health Benefits

Steps to maximum Entitlement

The Sickness Route to Benefits

DLA and Attendance Allowance 

Maternity Allowance Benefits Entitlement.

Do you qualify for Maternity Allowance benefits?

You may qualify if you are not entitled to receive Statutory Maternity Pay from you previous employer - or employers - but have either been self-employed or employed for a minimum of twenty six (26) weeks out of the sixty-six (66) weeks before the birth of your baby. Together with this, your gross weekly pay (before any deductions - should have been £30.00 a week or more, and have stopped work in order to have your baby.

Test Period

The Department of Work and Pensions call the 66 weeks before the expected birth of your baby, as the Test Period! The period is worked out as being from the date of expected birth - not the actual time of birth! For this period, 'employment' for part of a week is seen as being employment for a whole week!

If you were not employed during the 15th week before the due date of your baby, or if you have not been with the same employer for long enough, you may not be entitled to Maternity Allowance. There might also be a problem if you did not earn enough. (Minimum of £30.00 per week gross)

Who is entitled to MA - Maternity Allowance?

There is a certain amount of checking to be done by the Department of Work and Pensions to ensure that you are entitled to Maternity Allowance. For employed persons, they may - or may not - check your information with your employer, to ensure that it is correct. For self-employed people, you will need to have registered for self-employment with the Inland Revenue - HM Revenue and Customs. This is a legal requirement for being self-employed. If you simply worked 'cash in hand' that is NOT lawful self-employment! If that is the case, you may lose some or all of your Maternity Allowance!

(When the DWP talks about 'employer' they mean someone who has been liable to pay your NI Class1 contributions. If you did not earn enough to pay NI, then the company is still your 'employer'.)

Even if you are not a UK citizen - but you have permission to work - you may still be entitled to maternity Allowance.

When Should You Claim Maternity benefit?

• NOT before the start of the fourteenth week before the expected birth of your baby.
• If you are still working - claim as soon as you are entitled to. The DWP will contact you at a later date to ascertain the date you actually stopped work.
• You will need a MA1 Claim Form. This should NOT be dated earlier than the fourteenth week before you are due to have your baby.
• In the case of an early birth, then claim right after your baby is born. The Test Period mentioned above, will still remain the same.

Time limit for claiming maternity Allowance

Claim within 3 months of the date your Maternity Allowance Period is due to start, or you will lose money!

Expected date of of your Baby being Born.

If you claim before your baby is born. (The date of expected birth, will be in part A of your Maternity certificate, which you get from your doctor or midwife after the 21st week of your pregnancy.)

If you claim after your baby is born, the date is in Part B of your Maternity Certificate MAT.

Payment of Maternity Allowance

Maternity Allowance Period starts on the Sunday of the 11th week before the week you expect to have your baby, if you are not employed or self employed at this time. If you are self-employed or employed still at that time, you can choose when you would like your maternity Allowance to start from.

The latest date you can start your Maternity Allowance, is the day after your baby is born.

You cannot receive SSP and Maternity Allowance at the same time. If you are getting SSP, you must tell your employer when you are to start receiving Maternity Allowance. If you don't do this and you receive both, you will HAVE to pay back the SSP. You could even be accused of fraud if there was a dishonest motive!

If you give birth earlier than expected, tell Jobcentre Plus straight away. Your Maternity Allowance must start if you give birth before you have had a chance to start your maternity leave.

Statutory Sick Pay (SSP), Employment and Support Allowance or Incapacity Benefit will stop. Your Maternity Allowance will start the day after the first day you are sick and absent from work.

How the amount of your Maternity Allowance is calculated.

• If you are employed, you must earn at least £30 a week on average. This is GROSS pay before any deductions such as tax and NI contributions.
• We take an average your pay over any 13 weeks 'Test Period'. It can be any 13 weeks in that period!.
• The Department of Work and Pensions will  add together your gross earnings from each of the 13 weeks in which you earned the most. They will then divide the total by 13 to get an 'average'.
• the DWP will want to original payslips for the 13 weeks you choose - NOT photocopies!
• The Maternity Allowance you receive, will be either the standard rate of MA or 90% of your average gross weekly earnings. Whichever is the LOWEST!

Self Employed

• For self-employed persons, who are REGISTERED as being self-employed!  And. have paid Class 2 National Insurance contributions, and do not hold a Small Earnings Exception certificate. You will be treated as having enough weekly earnings to result in the standard rate of Maternity Allowance for any week covered by that Class 2 National Insurance contribution. In other words, you will be treated as though you have average earnings of £30.00 per week.
• You will need to have paid at least 13 class 2 NI contributions during the TEST Period, or you may not get Maternity Allowance.
• More help here  www.dwp.gov.uk/advisers/ni17a the Job Centre Plus can also advise you on these items.

This Link will Take you to a download PDF for the MA Claim Form (Maternity Allowance Claim Form - which you can print off, and fill in.                                                                                                           

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