surestart maternity grant

leeboy07

hi
just wondered if anybody would know if i was entitled to this? we are expecting our first baby on the 25th Aug and i'm going on maternity leave for 9 months - putting all the figures/income into the benefits advisor on the jobcentre website it says we will be entitled to £65.17 per week in child tax credits whilst i'm on maternity leave, does anyone know if that would mean we would be entitled to it?
sorry if i sound a bit naive but this is all very new to me!

thanks for your help

KeaneFan10

Who is eligible?

You can get a Sure Start Maternity Grant if you or your partner receive any of the following:

• Income Support
• income-based Jobseeker's Allowance
• income-related Employment and Support Allowance
• Pension Credit
• Child Tax Credit at a rate higher than the family element
• Working Tax Credit where a disability or severe disability element is included in the award

and if one of the following applies to you:

• you or your partner are pregnant and expecting a baby within 11 weeks or have given birth within the last three months
• you or your partner have adopted a child, or in certain circumstances have been granted a residence order for a child, within the last three months and the child is less than one year old
• you and your husband or wife have been granted a parental order for a surrogate birth within the last three months
• you or your partner are getting benefit for a dependant under the age of 20 who is pregnant and expecting a baby within 11 weeks or has given birth within the last three months

The term partner is used here to mean:

• a person you are married to or a person you live with as if you are married to them, or
• a civil partner or a person you live with as if you are civil partners

leeboy07

thanks - we don't receive the tax credits yet but will do when baby is born - does anybody know if that means we can put the form in still now or do we need to wait until we physically receive them?
thanks

karenx

No you will need to wait untill baby is born and you are awarded tax credits

leeboy07

thank you :T

claire1234

Child Tax Credit at a rate higher than the family element

would that mean if you get the baby element? (is it called baby element when the baby is born - 1 year old then at one year old will get family element?!)

is that right what im thinking?

thanks in advance,

AsknAnswer2

Yes, you need to be receiving CTC at a rate higher than that of the family element including any baby element. At the moment for the SSMG you need to be receiving child tax credit of more than £1095 for the year if you have a baby under the age of one, or more than £548 for the year if you do not have a baby under 1, in order to qualify.

Be aware that there is a time limit on claiming. Once baby is over three months you are out with the time limit and will not qualify for the grant.

sarahevie

you get three months when the baby is born to claim it. They are strict with it, I know from experience.

We missed out last time as our tax credits took ages to be assessed, even though I filled in the form before my daughter was born and posted it the day after her birth.

I appealed but was told that there was a 3 month deadline, I said well it wasn't our fault that you took five months to get our tax credits assessed and we weren't entitled until we got our tax credits. It didn't get me anywhere.

I'm currently pregnant and sent off the form as soon as I was 29 weeks pregnant, that was 5 weeks ago and I still haven't heard back from them.

Firewallrob

Claim it - they can only say no,

We were awarded it as the wife was on maternity pay, much to our amazement :j

Bobbity123

AsknAnswer2 wrote: »

Yes, you need to be receiving CTC at a rate higher than that of the family element including any baby element. At the moment for the SSMG you need to be receiving child tax credit of more than £1095 for the year if you have a baby under the age of one, or more than £548 for the year if you do not have a baby under 1, in order to qualify.

Be aware that there is a time limit on claiming. Once baby is over three months you are out with the time limit and will not qualify for the grant.

Oh no - we get £547.50 not £548!!! Could we be so unlucky :-(