maternity allowance, cant claim till 4 weeks before baby is born why is this ?? (2025)

24 November 2008 at 11:57AM

kurjam wrote: »

I work for an employer but have had so many problems with my pregnancy that my doctor signed me off work in august. my empl,oyer would not pay me sick pay and had to claim through the jobcentre, i automatically went onto incapacity benefit as i was on it for a while before i started working, so got the 104 weeks linking rule applied....

my employer said they cant pay me maternity pay, so applied for maternity allowance.

have been told i am entitled to mat allowance but not till jan 24th (4 weeks before baby due), it does say in the notes if you are of sick your maternity pay must start 4 weeks before before baby is due. but if you dont work you qualify from 11 weeks before

but from dec 7th (11 week before baby is due) i wont be of sick any more as i thought i would get the maternity allowance.
i have rang them but twice i have got different people who have said different things.

have they done this claim right, incapacity benefit have said if they dont get another sick note my claim will stop on dec 7th, so will i have to go back to work till january 24th ???
want to sort this asap especially as xmas is nearly here !!

Surely if you are not off sick anymore then you qualify for MA? ie once you are no longer reciving sick notes your eligibility resumes.

You don't get it straight away anyway (it takes a few weeks to process your claim) so if you are reliant on the income you may have problems.

Wouldn't you be better off staying on the sick if you are so unwell and claiming from wk36....that way MA lasts longer after baby is born - if you claim at 11 wks you are potentially looking at going back to wk (if you are) nearly 2 mths earlier when baby is 6 mths old.

MSE PARENT CLUB MEMBER.

ds1 nov 1997

ds2 nov 2007

:j

First DD

First DD born in june:beer:.

24 November 2008 at 12:58PM

24 November 2008 at 1:24PM

kurjam wrote: »

thanks i want to go back in september which was when i thought my maternirt allowance would finish....
i thought the same as you that if i dont send sick notes in i can get my mat allowance from 11 weeks, i am not reliant on the income i can manage, but would rather be on mat allowance than incapacity benefit...
i just thought that if i let them know know that as of dec 7th i am no longer sick that would give them a few weeks to sort this out...

You get 9 mths MA from when the claim starts so if you claim from 7th Dec it will finish on approx beginning of sep - if you start claim a mth later then MA will end a month later.

I get why you would rather be on MA than IB (not ever claimed IB but it's alot less isn't it) - could it be related to notice periods? I know you have to give notice of when you are going to take maternity leave quite far in advance?

Could you maybe go back to work for a week and then go on maternity - would that make a difference?

MSE PARENT CLUB MEMBER.

ds1 nov 1997

ds2 nov 2007

:j

First DD

First DD born in june:beer:.

24 November 2008 at 1:33PM

24 November 2008 at 1:57PM

just found this on a web page ::::

When MA is paid

Unless your baby is born earlier you cannot get any MA until 11 weeks before the week the baby is due but only if you stop work before then. If you continue to be employed or self-employed there is some flexibility as to exactly when the payments start, and you can choose the date depending on when you stop work.

.
The Maternity Allowance Period

The payment period for MA is called the Maternity Allowance Period or MAP. MA can be paid for a continuous period of up to 39 weeks.
Working out your MAP

Unless your baby is born prematurely the earliest your MAP can start is 11 weeks before the week your baby is due.
Your MAP will start at the earliest date if, at the start of the 11th week before the week in which your baby is due, any one of the following applies to you:

• you have already given up work as an employed or self-employed person or
• you are claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA) (this will stop when MA starts) or
• you are no longer employed or self-employed but are claiming Incapacity Benefit or Severe Disablement Allowance (SDA)

(Exceptionally, if your baby is born prematurely, more than 11 weeks before it was due, your MAP will start earlier. See ‘

’.)
Changes that will affect the start date of your MAP

If at the start of the 11th week before your baby is due any one of the following applies:

• you are still working as an employed or a self-employed person or
• you are getting Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) from your employer or
• you have not yet given up your job but are claiming Incapacity Benefit or Severe Disablement Allowance

you can chose to start your MAP later once you have stopped work to have your baby.
You can chose the date you want your MAP to start. This may be any day of the week. If you qualify for maternity leave from your employer the start date of your MAP will be the same day as the day your maternity leave begins.
But if your baby is born before the date you told your employer you were going to stop work, your MAP will start from the day following the day you gave birth.
If you are absent from work wholly or partly because of your pregnancy on or after the beginning of the 4th week before your EWC the rules below apply