Self Employed - Maternity Allowance Question please

met_2

Any help or advice from those that are in a similiar boat or knowledgable on this massively helpful as im going mad trying to figure this one out and where im going to get the money from

I am going on Mat leave 21st Feb and am self employed, 09/10 i grossed £4075 bit less after i paid some expenses, i am also my sons carer and i receive carers allowance as he is higher rate dla. they offererd/ told me i was exempt from 09 -12 but i have always paid NI up to May 2009. So really only last year that they offered me the NI exemption, i was only paying around £10 per month though anyway.

I was expecting for my maternity money around £120 per week as per the standard, they have told me I am only getting £27 per week though, they say its because i am not paying NI and have an exemption certificate, the cert says I can earn up to £5075 which i did not. So I am a low low earner, I am on carers for my disabled son and they are now giving me £100 less per week, feeling very angry and confused so any suggestions would be appreciated...they are effectively saying that i did not earn enough, mainly as i am my sons carer full time and he was recentl re assesed and re awarded higher rate DLA, no easy task in their current efforts to down grade people i hear.

thanks in advance,

met_2

ok so is this based on my NI contributions then directly or my partners, as mine pays c£2400 per month in tax and NI. dont see what that has to do with it mind. i was paying the correct and required NI that I was asked to pay.

MrsManda

If you're entitled to MA you receive 90% of your gross weekly earnings or £124.88, whichever is lower.

How much do you get?

Maternity Allowance pays a standard weekly rate of £124.88 or 90 per cent of your average gross weekly earnings (before tax), whichever is the smaller.
MA is paid for a maximum period of 39 weeks.
The amount of Maternity Allowance you get depends on your gross average weekly earnings or the amount you are treated as earning from your self-employment. More specific information on how your payment of Maternity Allowance is worked out can be found in the leaflet 'A Guide to Maternity Benefits - NI17A'.
You may be able to get extra money for your husband, civil partner or someone else who looks after your children, if that person is on a very low income. You will only be able to get this if your Maternity Allowance period starts on or before 5 April 2010.

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/MoneyTaxAndBenefits/BenefitsTaxCreditsAndOtherSupport/Expectingorbringingupchildren/DG_10018869

Becles

Those are the rules for employed people Mrs Manda.

For self employment, you get one of two rates.

If you have paid enough Class 2 NI, you get the full rate at £124 a week.

If you have claimed the exemption certificate, you get the lower rate of £27 a week.

You can have low earnings and choose not to claim the exemption certificate and pay Class 2 National Insurance which would entitle you to full MA.

Sorry it is not good news, but if you have the exemption certificate, they are correct in saying you are only entitled to £27 a week.

MrsManda

Becles wrote: »

Those are the rules for employed people Mrs Manda.

For self employment, you get one of two rates.

If you have paid enough Class 2 NI, you get the full rate at £124 a week.

If you have claimed the exemption certificate, you get the lower rate of £27 a week.

You can have low earnings and choose not to claim the exemption certificate and pay Class 2 National Insurance which would entitle you to full MA.

Sorry it is not good news, but if you have the exemption certificate, they are correct in saying you are only entitled to £27 a week.

Can you provide evidence/state where you have got this information from?

That is not what it says in the paperwork I quoted:

The amount of Maternity Allowance you get depends on your gross average weekly earnings or the amount you are treated as earning from your self-employment. More specific information on how your payment of Maternity Allowance is worked out can be found in the leaflet 'A Guide to Maternity Benefits - NI17A'.

Right I've found the information quoted by Becles which does state that the MA should be £27 in the OP's case though this seems to be completely at odds at the information on the direct.gov.uk website as quoted above.

Rates of MA

If you satisfy the employment rule and the earnings rule, you will be entitled to MA for a maximum period of 39 weeks.
The amount you get depends on your gross average weekly earnings. You will get the standard rate of MA, which is £124.88 a week (from 12 April 2010 ) or 90 per cent of your gross average weekly earnings, if this calculation results in a figure which is less than the standard rate of MA.
If you have paid Class 2 NI contributions at the end of each week in your 13 week earnings period, you will be treated as having enough earnings to receive standard rate MA.
If you hold a small earnings exception for at least 13 weeks in your test period and you have no other earnings you will be treated as having earnings of £30 a week (equal to the MAT) and receive a weekly rate of MA of £27.00 (90 per cent of the MAT).

http://www.dwp.gov.uk/publications/specialist-guides/technical-guidance/ni17a-a-guide-to-maternity/maternity-allowance-ma/rates-of-ma/

met_2

Therein is the frustration as I found the facts just don't stack up, will post what they come back with after a long letter and call

Becles

The direct gov website doesn't explain it well at all for self employed people. I read the leaflet quoted above when I was pregnant:
http://www.dwp.gov.uk/publications/specialist-guides/technical-guidance/ni17a-a-guide-to-maternity/maternity-allowance-ma/

In a nutshell, if you are self employed and paying Class 2 NI, you are assumed to be earning enough to qualify for the higher rate of MA (£124). It doesn't matter if you are earning £2000, £200 or £20 a week, you still get the full MA.

If you have the small earnings certificate, you are assumed to be earning £30 a week (Maternity Allowance Threshold) and get 90% of that which is £27 a week. Again it doesn't matter what your actual earnings are, you're just assumed to be earning £30 a week.

Hope you manage to get something sorted out met.