maternity leave when self-employed?

manila

Hello
i hope this is the right place to post this.

i am self employed as my husband is.
we have a daughter 5y old, and planning bigger family.
my husband earns around 25k a year.
i earn 64pounds a week and i am not sure if i am entitled to maternity allowance or other benefit. how does it work?

any suggestions would be appreciated

atomicsheep

You may get maternity allowance.

You need to have worked at least 26weeks out of the 66weeks prior to the expected week of childbirth, and earned on average of £30 / week within that period.
You can claim this within 11 weeks of the expected week of child birth (29 weeks pregnant).
To claim you'll need your MATB1 from your midwife/doctor and the claim form which you can get at the jobcentre. Or by calling the new claims number, they will also send you out a form.

manila

thank you for a quick reply
one more question. is it better to find another job (employed) or i could just stay with sel-employed?
i.e. if i earn 100 pounds as employer
or 100 pounds as self-employed (a week)
when can i get more money during and after pregnancy?

atomicsheep

not sure what you mean.
When you say about getting another job.... do you mean now or after the baby is born?

I'm not aware that you would get any different amounts whether you earned as employed or self employed, because the Maternity Allowance is a set amount (about £117.18/week or 90% of your wage, whichever is less)
So you either get the benefit or you dont. There is no middle ground.

When to claim was your other question.....
It's paid for a set amount of time (up to 39 weeks) so it depends on when you would rather have the money, sooner or later. So long as you dont claim any later than 3 months after the baby is born then you wont lose out on benefit.

here is some info about the self employment from the JCplus site:
"If you are self-employed, you must be registered as such with HM Revenue & Customs according to their rules.""
"
If you are self-employed and do not have a small earnings exception certificate, for any week covered by a Class 2 NI contribution you will be treated as having enough earnings to result in the standard rate of MA, payable at the end of the week covered by a Class 2 NI contribution. This means that:

• From 10 April 2006 treated as earning £120.95
• From 9 April 2007 treated as earning £125.28
• From 7 April 2008 treated as earning £130.20

Jobcentre Plus will ask HM Revenue & Customs to confirm the information you give about your Class 2 NI contributions on your MA claim form.
If you are self-employed and hold a small earnings exception certificate, you will be treated as having earnings equal to the MAT at the end of any week covered by your certificate. This applies even if you pay a class 2 NI contribution for a week which is also covered by the certificate. Send this certificate in with your MA claim form.
If you are employed and self-employed, earnings from your employment and earnings you are treated as having from self-employment can be added together to help you get as much MA as you can (upto a maximum of the standard rate).
by the way you can download the form now as well here;
http://www.dwp.gov.uk/advisers/claimforms/ma1.pdf

Becles

Do you pay Class 2 NI or have a small earnings certificate?

Basically the rules for self employed are:

If you hold the certificate, you automatically get about £30 a week Maternity Allowance regardless of your actual earnings.

If you pay Class 2 NI you automatically get about £120 a week Maternity Allowance regardless of your actual earnings.

It would be possible to cancel a small earnings certificate and start paying Class 2 NI now, so you can claim the approx £120 a week.

manila

Becles wrote: »

Do you pay Class 2 NI or have a small earnings certificate?

Basically the rules for self employed are:

If you hold the certificate, you automatically get about £30 a week Maternity Allowance regardless of your actual earnings.

If you pay Class 2 NI you automatically get about £120 a week Maternity Allowance regardless of your actual earnings.

It would be possible to cancel a small earnings certificate and start paying Class 2 NI now, so you can claim the approx £120 a week.

thank you for the replies.
yes, i earn too little (64 pounds a week), but dont have any certificate for it. didnt know about it.
and i pay Class 2 NI.
is average, i can claim 120 pounds a week (if i still earn 64 a week)?

manila

atomicsheep wrote: »

not sure what you mean.
When you say about getting another job.... do you mean now or after the baby is born?

thank you for your post as well.
well, if it is likely, that i could get more benefits during pregnancy/after childs birth, i would like to find another job before i get pregnant.
now i have IUD, so i can plan my pregnancy

Becles

manila wrote: »

thank you for the replies.
yes, i earn too little (64 pounds a week), but dont have any certificate for it. didnt know about it.
and i pay Class 2 NI.
is average, i can claim 120 pounds a week (if i still earn 64 a week)?

In your case you'll automatically get the higher rate MA which is around £120 a week.

I know it seems odd when your wages are only around £64, but that's how it works for the self employed.

manila

thank you for info, Becles


one more question :rolleyes:
i have heard, that from 2010 there are some maternity benefits till the child is one year old. anybody knows anything about that? does it include self-employed or just employed?