Help on working out Maternity Benefits

flea72

nelster wrote: »

Do I need to wait until after April to apply as having 3 sets of figures (69.5k for 08/09, 60k for 09/10 and 50k for 10/11) is only going to confuse the issue ?

But why should people wait until their child is nearly 1 year old before being able to give them the figures that apply now ?

Any advice appreciated.

its all evens itself out eventually

even if you arent entitled you should still apply as soon as you can, as it gets you on the system, and then its just a case of updating the figures yearly

baby born october, you apply using figures from 08-09 tax year. they say you arent eligible

you then contact them once OH goes onto basic SMP (however not sure what you mean by good support from employer, if she is only getting basic SMP?), and give them your revised figures for tax year 09-10

then in april 10, you will be asked to confirm your income for 09-10. if you have underestimated income you will be given what they owe you. if you have been overpaid, they claim it back

if you are 100% sure that you will have a lower income in tax year 10-11, then you can either inform tax credits of this when the renewal forms are sent to you (there is a part of fill in to say that your circumstances are changing), or you wait til the end of tax year 10-11 before informing them of the lower income, in which case, you will again be reimbursed for any underpayment

hth F

nelster

My wife's employer has given her around 20 weeks of support at a decreasing % of normal wage, so it's all been really good.

Hope everyone on the thread has happy and healthy babies and a lovely 1st year as parents.