am i entitled to the sure start grant?

katey23

Hi there I am a single mother of one with one on the way and i am panicking how i am going to afford the basics for my new addition. I currently work full time and i am recieiving woek tax credit and child tax credit. Just done my 2008/09 income declaration to tax credit office and they have sent me out an estimated award notice for 2009/10.

I am wondering if I will be entitled to the sure start grant from the government? I know it says you are if you recieve child tax credit at a rate higher then the family element (but i have no idea if i do or not)!

Any help or advice would be appreciated! :beer:

alwaysonthego_2

How much do you earn a year?

katey23

this year i earnt 14500 which included a bonus but my basic is 13800 before deductions normally. I contacted the tax credit office and they said to estimate my earnings for next year i need to take off £3900 as i am taking my full 39 weeks maternity leave

alwaysonthego_2

You should qualify for the Sure Start Maternity grant because you will be recieving more than the basic family element of CTC. You will also get the Health in Pregnancy grant. Good luck x

JoJoB

In calculating your earnings for this year do you know you don't have to count your maternity pay? This counts as zero earnings when applying for tax credits. Which will bring your earning level down enough to qualify for the more than basic element of ctc - which in turn would qualify you for the surestart grant.

My OH earns 20K and we just about qualified for the grant. Plus this year you can get child benefit paid in a lump sum before the baby is actually born, which should help you out a bit.

alwaysonthego_2

JoJoB wrote: »

In calculating your earnings for this year do you know you don't have to count your maternity pay? This counts as zero earnings when applying for tax credits. Which will bring your earning level down enough to qualify for the more than basic element of ctc - which in turn would qualify you for the surestart grant.

My OH earns 20K and we just about qualified for the grant. Plus this year you can get child benefit paid in a lump sum before the baby is actually born, which should help you out a bit.

That's not quite true, only £100 per week is disregarded.You may find that you were not entitled to The sure Start Grant if you disregarded the full amount. I am not sure what you are referring to about the lump sum of child benefit paid before the baby is born because this is only paid once the baby is born, do you mean the Health in Pregnancy Grant?

shell_542

You can apply for the surestart grant up until the baby is 3 months old, so I would suggest applying for it anyway and if you are rejected then you have your answer, but then once your tax credits are sorted after baby is born, apply again and you'll may find you are eligible for it then.

emweaver

The basic CTC is something like £15 a week. We got the sure start grant on a income of £15k a few years ago and the threshold for this usually goes up.

If you receive more than £15 a week CTC now then you can apply for it.

howdidthishappen

emweaver I am also wondering if I will qualify for the sure start grant our tax credits are paid weekly at £94.97 a week but part of this is for childcare do you know if I should qualify? Im not quite 29 weeks yet so cant apply but its playing on my mind about affording the things we need

alwaysonthego_2

What is your income?

howdidthishappen

mine is around £6000 (lower this this year due to going on maternity allowance from september) and dh £17400