Maternity Allowance - Delay in Processing. What can I do ?

joopy

I am currently 37 weeks pregnant and started my maternity leave at 28 weeks due to complications in my pregnancy. Prior to this I had to take a lot of time off work which meant my earnings were not high enough to recieve SMP from the company I work for.

I put in a claim for maternity allowance at the beginning of December and am still waiting for it to be processed. I have been advised that it normally takes, on average, three weeks to issue an award but there is currently a backlog due to Christmas. I am looking at the end of January before they even begin to process my application.

I have had no income since November and we are really starting to struggle now on just my husband's income. Is there anything we can do to speed up the procedure ?

Eight weeks to deal with an application is quite unnacceptable in my opinion :mad:

dmg24

As the JCP have confirmed that your claim is in the system, unfortunately all you can do is wait.

If you are struggling to manage on one income, perhaps you could post on the Debtfree Wanabee board to see if you can cut your outgoings, or look at the Old Style board to get some moneysaving ideas?

FRESTER

Hi,Just placed my claim for maternity allowance a week ago and was wondering if anyone knows how long they are taking to sort out the claims.
I claimed with my last child about four years ago and it took five months and a letter from my mp:mad:.Praying it is a bit faster this time because I start my maternity leave on 22nd Nov.:j

hibbi

my mat leave started 2 months ago and it took them 6 weeks to process it, you can call them and ask for a rough timescale though - i kept calling every week. Ive experience with the DWP and usally find the louder you shout the quicker you are seen to

FRESTER

Think I will give them a call next week when they have had the claim for a couple of weeks.

FRESTER

I thought I would find out how long they are taking today,so gave them a call.They said four weeks so time will tell.
When I do get it I will update this post for any other people who might be waiting;)

Health in Pregnancy only took one week:j

FRESTER

I got a letter after only nine days saying I will get the full amount and asking for the date I start my maternity leave and the date I would like payments to begin.
I am very happy to get to this stage in such a short time after waiting five months when I last claimed four years ago.
We will see if the next stage is just as easy,The form asked for lots of info about ssp(dates claimed and reason why etc) which I have been on for 22 weeks,so I hope this won't affect my claim.