When to apply for mat. allowance etc?

[Ashbee]

Im a student nurse at the moment, but also work with an agency in a hospital during holidays/ free time etc. As im not entitled to statutory im applying for mat. allowance but my pay is 1 month in lu and i need to work most of July to get my average up on the 13 week test period which means i wont be able to send my application away until the end of August... baby is due 19th Sept, do you think this is too late?

Thanks x

 

[Loula]

Id ring them and ask

 

[mylullaby]

Hi Ashbee. Sorry I don't have any better advice than to suggest calling them to discuss. I'm sure they'll have answered your question a million times before. Hopefully it won't be too late. Can I just ask you a quick question about mat allowance? When is the 13-week test period? Is it a certain number of days before your due date or a certain number of days before you apply for the allowance? We're ttc and I'm self-employed, so it's something that's been on my mind for a while now. xx

 

[Ashbee]

hello sorry i just seen your reply! you can choose your 13 week test period from 66 weeks before baby is due. Im due 19th September so that takes me back to the start of June 2013. I can pick 13 weeks from then until now ( the highest payed weeks) the weeks i choose need to be over £30. Im sure if your self employed you need to have made nation insurance also. So as long as your making over £30 a week, youl be fine x

 

[mylullaby]

Thanks so much for that info. Yes, have paid National Insurance and it's FANTASTIC news that I can pick my highest paid 13 weeks from the 66 before birth (not even pregnant yet but good to think ahead to these things - haha!) Some months I earn quite a bit and others I earn nothing, so it's good to know I can base my claim on a good few weeks. You have actually made my day! Thank you so much. I found loads about what the entitlement is/how to claim/how long you can claim for, etc, etc but nothing on when the test period was!) Love this forum!! So helpful - thanks!! xxx

 

[Ashbee]

no problem! they take your highest 13 weeks and average it out. Some weeks i made £250 and others only £30 but when its all added up and they take 90% off and if its still over a certain amount you still get the highest (£137) phone the job center plus they will explain it all to you - im on first name basis with them haha!

x

 

[mylullaby]

Fab - thanks. Yeah I read about the 90% thing. Don't want to phone the job centre until I'm pregnant as I'm worried they'll think I'm a weirdo asking about MA for a hypothetical pregnancy! Ha! Also haven't done my self-assessment for the most recent tax year yet and want to get that done (and NI paid) before I speak to anyone so the info they have is up to date. You're a superstar for explaining this much now though - can have that in the back of my mind for the future. Hope your pregnancy is going well. My best friend is 33 weeks and I felt her baby kick at the weekend - so amazing and I'm so excited to meet her baby (and soooooooooo flippin' broody!!!) Bet you can't wait!!

 

[Ashbee]

You will be fine! i wish you luck in TTC! When i found out ( a little bit of a surprise ) i was panicking as i had just left a fulltime job with the NHS to become a student nurse. Hopefully iv earned enough from bank shifts at the hospital to gain full matt. allowance! its not a lot but it works out at around 6,000! I have my 24 week app with the midwife at 3 and i get the Mat B form - the form that you use to apply for all the finances! think i may book an app with my local citizen advice also to see if im entitled to anything that i dont know about. Its good to do these things just incase you miss out any money you could be getting! Dont worry about money you will always manage!

Good luck and hope to see you in the trimester 1 forum very soon
x

 

[mylullaby]

Aww thank you. DH has a good job and mine has peaks and troughs so I've got used to saving to see me through the quiet times, which can only be a good thing. We're both pretty good at watching what we spend. Just getting my head around the MA (which I didn't even know existed till a few months ago!) Assumed I'd be fending for myself so anything else is a bonus.

Hope the midwife and CAB appointments go well and you can get all your finances in place soon. And hope the bank work has been enough for the maximum allowance for you too!!

 

[ClimbingRose]

This might have been covered but so long as you've earned £30 or more a week averagely and paid your NI you'll get the full amount MA. Im self employed, and earn sweet FA! havent actually applied for it yet, but this is what I've been told by someone else xx

 

[Ashbee]

Some weeks i earned 250 and some weeks only 30, do they add all the 13 weeks together and divide it by 13 to get the average? also, i think the NI only applies to self employment - im hoping anyway as theres 4 weeks i only earned 30 and no NI!

x

 

[mylullaby]

I think that's because you don't pay NI until a certain amount (that's how it is with self-employment anyway) so you'll have paid it when you earned enough and not paid it when you didn't need to. Therefore, I think your NI contributions should be up to date. Might be worth checking with the job centre though.

 

[Ashbee]

do you think i can still claim for the weeks iv not made NI but still over £30? ( im employed by the NHS and the £30 weeks is a 6 1/2 hour shift ) hmmmm! x

 

[mylullaby]

No idea. I'd speak to the job centre about it and find out. Better to take their well-informed advice than my guess work.

 

[Ashbee]

Yeah i will, picked up 30 hours of work next week so maybe il just work an extra 4 weeks and make sure i get NI just to cover myself!

 

[ClimbingRose]

I only really know about self employment, but basically with that, if your NI isnt paid up fully you simply pay it and then get your Maternity allowance.
Unfortunately I dont think it matters how much you earn on average, you cant get more than £137 (or roughly) a week. Thats the maximum But it sounds like you will be entitled to that, you may be missing a small amount of NI but it wont be much and you can just pay it. You might be fine on that front though.
xx

 

[Ashbee]

Thanks. I worked out on average for the 13 weeks its £180 and it has to be higher than 90% of 137 so hopefully i can get the full amount

x