Advice on maternity allowance claims (UK)

[HLx]

I wasn't able to claim SMP due to my working hours being too low and not earning enough so this is what I had to claim (which I've claimed for both my other two previously).

Does anyone know how long it takes? I I put the claim form in around the 20th August, and received a text at the beginning of this month saying they received my claim form and that was that. My worry is tomorrow is my last holiday pay day from work and my official maternity leave starts on Monday with no sign of a letter on payments, it's starting to give me major anxiety now over paying my bills if i don't get paid in time, they say they backdate it, but I'm pretty sure that will mean nothing when explaining that to the companies I have bills with lol

I've also forgotten how long it takes, it's been 5 years since I last got maternity allowance!

 

[LoneWanderer]

My claim went in 9th Aug (recorded delivery).
Got a text saying eight weeks til decision (website says 24 days).
I called them two weeks ago and was told there's a massive backlog, and it won't be until early Oct that I hear anything. I'm technically on leave already, so they'll have to backdate it to two weeks ago. Even once I get a decision, might be paid at lower rate until HMRC get in touch about voluntary Nat Ins payment.
It's a REALLY shitty system, thankfully our savings, credit cards and his income have us covered (and I'm working still using my 'keep in touch days' - but christ knows how they expect people to live when there's a 9, 10 week delay on even sending a decision out.

 

[HLx]

I could swear right now! I just got off the phone with them myself now and they said the exact same! If yours was beginning of August and it should be beginning of October you get paid mine will probably be end of October! The only difference is because of all this preterm labour shit, I'm not allowed to work, I've had strict orders off the doctors and my midwife and because I work in retail, being on my feet for hours a day and needing to drive a good distance to get there, something's bound to bloody happen knowing my luck, how do I explain this to the people I pay my bills too! Honest to God... I can't even use my keeping in touch days as I'm unable to work, but.. it looks like I'm going to have to risk mine and my babys health because of their shitty system! Livid isn't the word right now

 

[LoneWanderer]

I really feel for you, I've been complaining to anyone who will listen how fucking mental this system is. I'm only claiming - for four weeks max - because my other half is having the shared parental leave, and I need to make a claim in order to cancel it for him to have my portion of pay - which makes us a very unusual case because unlike most people, we don't actually need the income immediately. Otherwise I wouldn't have bothered. I fucking hate the shambles that is the DWP, absolutely incompetent, would much rather never touch the benefits system as it seems designed just to screw decent hardworking people over.

9 weeks - or more - is utterly beyond a joke for anyone who needs to be on leave to wait for payments. You can only claim from 11 weeks before due date anyway, so seems a fortnight before baby (presuming it arrives exactly as scheduled) is the absolute earliest anyone can expect to be paid. NOT GOOD ENOUGH.

All I can think is maybe contact Citizen's Advice, or pop to local council office, and tell them how shitty this is given your situation. I'd suggest also maybe writing to your local MP. Perhaps with Parliament currently shut down, they might have time to do some local work - like taking up your case... ALSO would work pay sick pay if you need to be signed off? If not, you might be able to claim statutory sick pay and that might cover you until maternity allowance is settled, I presume that gets dealt with more quickly. Ring the JobCentre helpline, maybe?

Last thing you bloody need to be worrying about though. Contact anyone expecting bills etc too, explain your situation. Can't hurt, they might be able to suspend your bills for a month. On the plus side (if there is one) - I've read that claims do get paid quickly once eventually processed, and that they backdate to when you choose - so you can tell them to go back the full eleven weeks if need be - but obviously that's not much help to you right now.

 

[HLx]

No I completely agree with you! They seem to help these families that pop out a million kids and can't be arsed to work, in a heartbeat! I've contacted work and hopefully I can go back and do at least one shift a week for some sort of income, my OH said he will take a set day off a week to take me and pick me up, not ideal but I don't have much choice! Hopefully work will agree with this otherwise I'm absolutely screwed! It's all because a few months back I decided to drop my hours in work to be at home more and my OH took over the house bills(I still pay my own personal Bill's and car stuff like that), seems like an okay thing to do, but my issue now is because I wont be getting any sort of income if I don't work my partner will have to pick that up as well as his bills and the house bills, even though he will do it because that's the person he is, I don't agree to it! He shouldn't have to pay for me, I was managing fine on my low wage, when he took over my half of the house bills and all I pay now is my personal bills seems silly me stressing about this as there are probably people out there in a much shittier situation... I STILL have 2 kids to look after and a car to run, a phone bill to pay that sort of thing and I'm not prepared to get bailiffs chasing me because DWP are so friggin useless with claims! Babys due in November I was planning on going back to work after xmas anyway, what was the point in even bloody claiming!

 

[LoneWanderer]

No I completely agree with you! They seem to help these families that pop out a million kids and can't be arsed to work, in a heartbeat! I've contacted work and hopefully I can go back and do at least one shift a week for some sort of income, my OH said he will take a set day off a week to take me and pick me up, not ideal but I don't have much choice! Hopefully work will agree with this otherwise I'm absolutely screwed! It's all because a few months back I decided to drop my hours in work to be at home more and my OH took over the house bills(I still pay my own personal Bill's and car stuff like that), seems like an okay thing to do, but my issue now is because I wont be getting any sort of income if I don't work my partner will have to pick that up as well as his bills and the house bills, even though he will do it because that's the person he is, I don't agree to it! He shouldn't have to pay for me, I was managing fine on my low wage, when he took over my half of the house bills and all I pay now is my personal bills seems silly me stressing about this as there are probably people out there in a much shittier situation... I STILL have 2 kids to look after and a car to run, a phone bill to pay that sort of thing and I'm not prepared to get bailiffs chasing me because DWP are so friggin useless with claims! Babys due in November I was planning on going back to work after xmas anyway, what was the point in even bloody claiming!

So if your fella could manage the payments for you just until the claim decision, you might be able to avoid work - and then pay him back when they backdate your claim? Far from ideal I know, but your health is the most important thing - and baby's too of course.. When you do eventually hear from them, I'd demand the full eleven pre-baby weeks if I were you, bollocks to them, get it backdated and use it to cover anything you've had to borrow from OH or anywhere else.

Aye, it's annoying for me, it's really pretty bad for you - so imagine being a self employed single parent relying on it to cover rent and essentials! Fucking stupid system. I've got time on my hands right now what with being on leave, reckon I'm gonna stick my journalist hat on, do some asking about for the worst stories out there, and take this up with anywhere I can get it printed. Balls to the DWP, I'll get 'em shamed...

 

[HLx]

So if your fella could manage the payments for you just until the claim decision, you might be able to avoid work - and then pay him back when they backdate your claim? Far from ideal I know, but your health is the most important thing - and baby's too of course.. When you do eventually hear from them, I'd demand the full eleven pre-baby weeks if I were you, bollocks to them, get it backdated and use it to cover anything you've had to borrow from OH or anywhere else.

Aye, it's annoying for me, it's really pretty bad for you - so imagine being a self employed single parent relying on it to cover rent and essentials! Fucking stupid system. I've got time on my hands right now what with being on leave, reckon I'm gonna stick my journalist hat on, do some asking about for the worst stories out there, and take this up with anywhere I can get it printed. Balls to the DWP, I'll get 'em shamed...

Hahaha I think we need more people like you running these claim systems! People might actually get somewhere

But yeah it seems I either go back to work for a month and try and keep my legs crossed, or OH help me out with bills which I hate! I know were a team but I pay my own way, always have and always will. I'll be making sure I get anything and everything back that i have lost! If I was a single parent I'd probably be fucked right now to say the least! I don't claim anything else, my ex partner claims child benefit for our two, as it went into his bank and I just left it at that as i didn't need it and just like you, hate this benefits system so I avoid it at all cost unless I have to for whatever reason, usually maternity leave! I'm sure when I claimed MA with my other two it didn't take this long either, with my first I was working full time but wasnt with the company long enough to claim SMP but I did work until quite late from what I remember, with my second I had to drop my full time hours after having my daughter due to childcare so obviously by the time my second babys maternity allowance come about I hadn't earned enough for SMP but got the full amount of MA as I did with my first

It's even worse for people who's self employed like yourself, £27 a week until you challenge it due to NI contributions? Piss off that's absolute madness! I'm sure they make these figures up in their head honestly.

Had a message from work right now too saying it doesn't look like my KIT days are a possibility? And why the fuck not? I thought I was entitled to them.... my previous employer took me back on KIT days in a heartbeat! The way this is going I'll be getting new job after xmas also as it seems my employer is just as much of a asshole as DWP!

 

[LoneWanderer]

Aye, basically I'm waiting for a letter that says 'yes, you can have £27/month' from DWP, as well as one saying 'please pay NI contributions' from HMRC. Then I send HMRC about 40 quid (13 weeks worth of low-end contributions) - and they write to DWP approving my payment at the higher rate. DWP then (in theory) backdates my pay at £148-ish a week.

It's beyond madness. ESPECIALLY as once that's sorted (or maybe even before, at this rate) I then have to contact DWP *again* basically as soon as baby comes to convert the existing claim into shared parental leave, request an end to my payments which might not even have started yet(!) As my MA needs to be ended two weeks after baby is born, so OH's employer can claim back statutory shared pay on his behalf in place of my claim.

I expect to be spending a whole lot of time on the phone clearing up their incompetence...

 

[HLx]

Aye, basically I'm waiting for a letter that says 'yes, you can have £27/month' from DWP, as well as one saying 'please pay NI contributions' from HMRC. Then I send HMRC about 40 quid (13 weeks worth of low-end contributions) - and they write to DWP approving my payment at the higher rate. DWP then (in theory) backdates my pay at £148-ish a week.

It's beyond madness. ESPECIALLY as once that's sorted (or maybe even before, at this rate) I then have to contact DWP *again* basically as soon as baby comes to convert the existing claim into shared parental leave, request an end to my payments which might not even have started yet(!) As my MA needs to be ended two weeks after baby is born, so OH's employer can claim back statutory shared pay on his behalf in place of my claim.

I expect to be spending a whole lot of time on the phone clearing up their incompetence...

Flipping hell now that is crazy, there should be something in place for your OH to claim separately, or anyones OHs looking to do the shared leave, why does the woman have to do it when being equal in the workplace and things like that are drummed into our skulls these days, men should be allowed to use our MATB1 forms to claim for the dates they want as shared leave, and we do the same, somehow that seems much simpler? I think they enjoy screwing people over making sure it's more work and hassle than its potentially worth! I can't cope with them right now, I'm surprised I'll get any form of payment the way I spoke to the lady on the phone from DWP... and sod work also, I ain't going back there, wow this has turned into a rant more than looking for advice lol! It's one thing after another with these benefits, they do not support working families one bit, maybe I should have just stopped work, claimed being a single parent and got money in a split second seems as that's the case in the UK...

 

[LoneWanderer]

In the 9th week now since I made my claim (8th since they let me know they have it) so I'll let you know if I hear from them this week, and what they say. Presume if I get mine then yours will be two weeks after, or thereabouts.

Bunch of wankers they are though, eh?

 

[HLx]

In the 9th week now since I made my claim (8th since they let me know they have it) so I'll let you know if I hear from them this week, and what they say. Presume if I get mine then yours will be two weeks after, or thereabouts.

Bunch of wankers they are though, eh?

Yup complete bunch of tossers lol! Oh well I'll just make do with being a skint ass until then

 

[LoneWanderer]

Sorry to say that a couple of people I've spoken to about their claims are reporting it's now a 12 week delay on the decision, not 9 as previously stated...

There's taking the piss, and then there's this absolute nonsense.

I'm calling them tomorrow to pin down my start and finish dates, I'll give them a piece of my mind while I'm at it. Not that it will make any difference, but hell - I'm annoyed at being overdue and over-pregnant so I might as well take it out on the pricks at the DWP

 

[HLx]

Omg I can't believe that! I was actually wondering if you heard anything back! I have bloody Bill's to pay at this rate my credit card is going to get a bashing!!! Useless wankers