Maternity pay/benefits for the self employed

[supergolden88]

Has anyone been through this before and know what the deal is? I am self employed (have been for 3 years) and have no idea if I should be getting some form of maternity pay - but I assume so since I have been paying NI contributions. If anyone has any relevant advice I would appreciate it

[barrybrains]

I am also self-employed. I claimed Maternity Allowance for 9 months, approximately ?116 a week I think or the same rate as Statutory Maternity Pay.

Pop into the Job Centre in Peckham where you can pick up a form - they give the form to you at the front door, so you don't need to loiter in there!

Details are here: http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/MoneyTaxAndBenefits/BenefitsTaxCreditsAndOtherSupport/Expectingorbringingupchildren/DG_10018869

[supergolden88]

Thanks. That does not sound too bad. I assume that while you claim this you cant be doing any work at all? I have this strange idea that I can keep doing projects at home quite soon after baby arrives. I am pretty sure this illusion will evaporate once I have the baby but I am loathe to stop all work and lose my contacts!

[ladywotlunches]

Supergolden - there is also a jobcentre in Forest hill (on Dartmouth Road, bit further down past Bunka, on the right hand side. In case its easier for you to get to?

Everyone is entitled to up to 10 'keeping in touch' days, which can be paid during maternity leave. I'm on a casual contract but do actually qualify for SMP (yay!) but the company will be paying me upfront in a lump sum and have said to me that if I come back to work for them before the end of 9 months other than the 10 days, they would claim some of the money back. But they also said that if I was working for someone else, they wouldn't know anything about it so wouldn't be getting it back....

[supergolden88]

Now I need to work out whether my part time employer wants to pay me anything because if they do I lose out on the MA. Things are never simple! Thanks for all the advice

[barrybrains]

My circumstances sound slightly different as I don't have an employer as I run my own business, but I worked and had an income whilst claiming my Maternity Allowance post-baby. I'm not sure if this is allowed, but so far I've not had anything flagged up by the tax man and this was a few years ago now. However, I am only small fry, so I doubt they'd be too bothered about the income I was bringing in whilst claiming MA!!

[supergolden88]

I wonder barrybrains if there is a cut off for earnings during MA - there may well be. I suppose you could always defer invoicing or something. I am curious as to how it will all turn out.

[barrybrains]

I had a regular income from property rental, so couldn't defer that. I guess that is OK as it's not work that I am actively doing whilst on Maternity Leave.

From a business point of view, I would never defer invoicing - clients are too likely to take the p**s!

I am sure you can still keep working if it's under a certain amount of hours a week - it's not like anyone can live off ?116 a week, can they? I must admit the money was a nice little bonus in my pocket as I kept working. If I had to rely on it to live off, it would have been as good as useless!

[Emski]

I claimed MA last year - ?123/week for 40wks. Also had income via property rental which didn't seem to be a problem. Think you can download form via www.direct.gov - or there's a phone number on there for them to talk you through any questions. Seem to remember the lady I spoke to was actually quite helpful...

[ladywotlunches]

This from the DirectGov website:

What if your circumstances change?

It's important you tell Jobcentre Plus if your circumstances change.

If you do some work for an employer, or as a self-employed person, before your MA is due to end, you will be able to work for up to ten days without losing any MA. If you work for more than ten days, you will lose MA for the days you work after that.

You must tell Jobcentre Plus about any work you do when you are receiving MA.

Changes that don't affect the payment include:

?going into hospital

?going into a nursing home or residential care

?starting voluntary work

The full page is here: Direct gov website

[supergolden88]

I am guessing if I have a big job that will pay well I will need to find childcare in which case the MA will definitely have to come to an end. Thanks again

[Helen GV]

why would having to find childcare end your MA? From what I understand, after you have worked the allowed keeping in touch days, any additional days worked will result in the loss of one days maternity allowance. I don't know if there is an upper limit of days so you might want to check but I don't think there is a limit on how much you can earn on each day you work...

[supergolden88]

I meant that if I get a big project that pays well (I am a freelance designer) I will need someone to take baby off my hands in order to work and since I have no family around to help I would need to find childcare. And once I do that I may as well start working in earnest in which case I would stop claiming MA

As I said you never know until the baby arrives. With my daughter I was a wreck for months due to shock of new motherhood and lack of sleep. I am hoping second time around I wont be so stressed with it all!

[Helen GV]

yup i'm with you in hoping the second won't leave me as shocked as the first!

I see what you mean about starting work again, would be easier in a lot of ways to just continue rather than start/stop randomly, continuity and all...