Class 2 NI after maternity leave

Make-it-3

I was self-employed before taking maternity leave late last year and have been receiving Maternity Allowance (MA) since then. This will come to an end in September.

While I have been on MA my Class 2 NI contributions were covered by the government. Am I right to assume they will start collecting them again by direct debit as soon as my MA comes to an end? Or do they contact you to see if you are returning to self-employment.

I am planning to take some extra time out to care for my baby. Do I need to de-register as self-employed in order to stop these payments.

Or should I carry on paying them regardless of whether I am working, they aren't much, is there any merit in continuing them?

ceeforcat

Do not assume HMRC will collect under any circumstances - I have had a client with previous experience of this - six years contributions in arrears which then have to be paid at current rate.

Make-it-3

Ok, maybe its wrong of me to assume payments will automatically start again. So that leaves we with the choice to deregister for now or contact them to restart payments even though I don't know when/if I will start trading again. Any benefit of going with the latter route?