Self Employed - Maternity Allowance (U may find this useful)

[happy-chick]

OK im self employed with a small earnings certificate and was led to believe that I would only qualify for £30 per week Maternity Allowance due to me having this certificate, I was gutted as I would have payed my NIS payments if id have known it would effect me like this.

To qualify for the full £112 Maternity Allowance I need to have been paying my NIS contributions for at least 26 weeks in the 66 weeks before baby was born and NOT hold an exemption certificate... I was gutted, if I'd have known I'd have payed the £2.20 a week!

Ive done a lot of digging and research with the Inland Revenue, DSS & Jobcentre and have uncovered that you can actually cancel your exemption certificate with effect from any date you choose and pay the outstanding contributions. This means that if I cancel it from 30 weeks ago and pay those payments (At £2.20 a week it only works out at £66) then I will qualify for the full maternity allowance (£112) for 39 weeks as long as im not working!!

There is a 6 week penalty on late NIS payments which means u cant claim any benefit in this period but if u do it early enough then you wont loose anything.

YEY Im so pleased, we we're so worried that I'd have to start work straight away after baby is born I just thought I'd let anyone who is self employed know about this as if i hadn't decided to investigate then I would have ended up loosing £82 a week that I should be entitled to!

 

[Urchin]

I thought it was 13 weeks not 26?

You can only get MA if you cannot get SMP, have been employed and/or self-employed and you have earned on average at least £30 a week in your test period. The test period is the period of 66 weeks up to and including the week before the week your baby is due.

Your average earnings are worked out using earnings from any 13 weeks in the test period. The 13 weeks do not have to be in a row and you may choose the weeks with the most earnings to help you get more MA. Earnings from all your jobs (if you have more than one) and earnings you are treated as having from self-employment will be used to work out your average weekly earnings. If your average is at least equal to £30 a week you will get MA.

Or is it different if you are self Employed.

I'm counting on the 13 week rule to get mine!

 

[happy-chick]

You have to have been employed or self employed for at least 26 weeks in the 66 week period plus have 26 weeks worth of NIS contributions in that time.

They then look at a 13 week test period (13 weeks of your choice so obviously highest earnings) and work things out from there - I think they only do this for if your employed from what I can gather....

This explains but its pretty confusing as to whats for employed and whats for self employed:
http://www.jobcentreplus.gov.uk/JCP/Cus ... 5.xml.html