Sure start maternity grant!!!

[weestar21]

Ok first has any of you herd of the sure start maternity grant from the goverment? Its a grant for up to £500 for anyone who is pregnant adopting or fostering a child.

After hearing about it 4 years ago just after i had my lil girl adele i aplied for it and recieved it succesfully.
This time round i aplied for it and was turned down, their reason for turning me down was i havent earned £30 a week since april 2002 wich was a lie because i have had 3 jobs since then. I went down to the local benefits office with all my pay slips and p45's ect and was told all i could do was apeal agains it. So i did because i didnt like the fact they were making me out to be a liar.

Got a letter in today saying i have succesfully won the apeal so im over the moon and even better i got the full £500 ok it isnt alot of money but when you have a baby its surprising just how much you spend in teh first year!!

If any of you havent herd of this maternity grant please go to your local job centre you can only aply for it after you have reched 29 weeks pregnant and up to 3 months after the baby is born. Not enough people know about this maternity grant and they are entitle to it as long as u have earned more than £30 per week.

let me know how yous get on

take care

Jean xxx

 

[Kerry]

I got it too!!

Like you say £500 may not seem like a lot but basically it got me:

Pushchair
Breast pump
Steriliser
Feeding Bra's
Loads of bits and bobs like nappies, breast pads etc.
Play Gym
Changing bag
And some xmas presents with what was left.

It made such a difference and we would have struggled without it.

 

[Amanda]

Ooo, I got all excited then because I had originally thought this was only for people on low incomes. I was right. Unfortunately, it isn't for anyone, and as I have always worked fulltime, I won't be eligible.

The Department of Work and Pensions website says the following:

Who can get the grant?
You can get a Sure Start Maternity Grant if you or your partner are getting:

Income Support
Income based Jobseeker's Allowance
Pension Credit
Child Tax Credit which includes an amount higher than the family element or
Working Tax Credit where a disability or severe disability element is included in the award.

You know what, sometimes it does really wind me up that I have always worked fulltime, and therefore can't claim anything. I am the major wage earner, and my wages pay all the rent, bills, food, etc. We then live day to day on DH's pittance of a wage (not his fault, he is training on a new job). God only knows what we are going to do when I am only bring home £106 a week.

 

[*sam*]

I've just looked at the same website and I'm not entitled to it either!

Even though I only work part time and I'm a student, I'm not on any kind of benefits or anything.

It seems unfair!!!!

 

yay i got it..... rhe sneaky way lol

 

[weestar21]

sorry forgot your name already think it was sam, ok once you have your baby you will be entitle to childrens tax credits because you are a student and once you get that you will then quallify for the maternity grant. im sorry im not very good at explaining things very well best thing to do is phone the inland revenue and ask them if u will be able to claim for childrens tax credits and if they say yes the still apply for the maternity grant. let me know how you get on

 

[*sam*]

OOOH Thanks for that Weestar, I'll look in to it!!!

 

students arent allowed it unless ur on income support.. im a student and had to try every way of getting it. every one gets child tax credit just the amount veries, it doesnt entitle you to sure start grant

 

[weestar21]

tankett, i know how you feel hun!! i havent worked since september this year because of my pregnancy being high risk of premature labour i was sacked from my job because i was blacking out alot and taking time off sick. A few years back had to leave my job and take care of my lil girl who was born at 29 weeks thankfully she was healthy enough and no long term effects. because i left my job and wasnt sacked back then i wasnt entitle to any money what so ever we were living off my partners wages wich were crap we struggled so bad we lost the house but now 3 years later were finnaly back on our feet he has an ok job not the best payed in the world but we get by. What makes me mad is i have worked but they tell me i still havent enough natonal insurance cntributions to qualify for any benefits except working tax credits and childrens tax credits which only works out to be like £65 a month so its nothing exciting.

What really gets to me is all these druggies people claming for disabled benefits when they are perfectly healthy and down at the pub every day makes me sick how they can get away with it and us honest people trying to make a living get no where in the system when we do need that little bit help.

sorry to go on just gets me mad

 

[tracyM]

Definitately apply for it after the birth
We didn't qualify before Alex was born because our child tax credits weren't high enough - actually their fault because they'd overpaid the child bit of it the year before. I wasn't planning on taking maternity leave, but taking it for two weeks after the birth (and 4 weeks before) has dropped our income enough to qualify for the grant - my maternity allowance still hasn't come through but the £500 was paid into our account on Tuesday.

Tracy xxx

 

[weestar21]

Im glad you got it hun, its just every penny helps when your expecting or just had a baby

hopefully they might come out with something better that everyone will be entitle to instead of one rule for one person and a different one for another

 

[Sarah&Braydon]

i am totally gutted i didnt realise till today that i could get it and guess wot braydon is over 3 months old that £500 would have really helped me out to - as i am really low on money and chubby chops is going to need 6-9 month clothes soon

 

[weestar21]

i would still try apply for it hun the worst they can say is no!
give them a call as soon as you can just say you have just herd about it.

im stuck in a rott at the mo i got the maternity grant and should be entitle to maternity allowance too wich works out to be £1300 and cant get it because my last employer was paying me cash in hand i didnt know that it wasnt through the books and because their is no record of me working for them im not getting it. Money is really tight for us at teh moment too and knowing that i am entitle to it is really hacking me off but imgetting no where ive tried calling them and saying all u need to do is stamp a letter with how much i earned but all i got was ' we will deny you worked here' because the inland revenue will want all their taxes for me working their. so im really gutted and really down because of it and we have to live off my partners wages wich are crap and to top it all off we are living in a private let house at the moment and the council wont give us a council house so we are £450 rent straight away off his wages and all the other bills so were left with nothing at the end of the month.

its just hard knowing i should be entitle to that maternity allowance because i have worked but got no proof not even a pay slip


sorry for going on but need to let it out before i really do cry about it

 

[stephlw25]

Unfortunately sarah you wont get it...i found out too when it was too late and jamie was only just over 3 months and they still said "no, its too late!!"
Gutted!

 

stephie.... i did tell u to get it tut tut

 

[lauramumof2]

I doubt I will apply for it either but it annoys me that you have to be on income support to get it. There is a fine line between a low paid job and i/s, jsa. £500 would come in really handy for me but if I phone I will be told I can whistle for it. I work in benefits which makes it worse.
Its not that im anti people on income support its just that it seems that if you are married and working then you basically told to p**s off.

On another note, pension credit - maternity grant. Is it only me that finds that combination weird.

 

[stephlw25]

stephie.... i did tell u to get it tut tut

Yea i know dam it!! i applyed first and they said i wasnt entitled to it, thats before i got the tax credits thou, and the tax credits took soooo long to sort out that i didnt think to apply inthe mean time!

 

tut tut stephie lol you cud still apply and u tick the boxes that says ur awaiting your tax credit application

 

[stephlw25]

Yea i know forgot bout that too!!!! gutted!

 

I was told I couldn't get it but from being on Income support from being off sick whilst pregnant I was still receiving Incapacity beneift pension credits.

Basically, I couldn't get Incapacity benefit on it's own as I hadn't paid enough NI, but the government continue to pay you pension credits instead. I was only told about this though when I applied for my maternity allowance - not a happy bunny as I should have been told this before and it delayed my claim to them.

I applied for the Sure start grant on the basis of these pension credits but they said that I wasnt receiving them. I sent in my appeal letter this week because I was receiving pension credits and received a letter back today saying that they had received my letter and they would let me know how the appeal goes and if I win my case. Hoping it goes well as the money would still be very handy!!

Don't know how we would be accepted for a grant on the basis of tax credits, I earnt too much the tax year before to be elligable for much I reckon, but as of April this year when it's re-evalued we should be entitled to a bit more as I didnt hardly work at all in 2005.