Maternity Allowance question.

mrsgrubtec

Hello all.

I currently have a 14 month old child and we plan to try for another one soon. Before I fell pregnant with my 1st child I was self employed as a driving instructor and therefore, as I did not have an employer to claim SMP from, I was entitled to MA. I have not gone back to work as an instructor but I am now registered as self employed again as I am a mystery shopper. My earnings are low, no where near what I earned as a driving instructor but what I would like to know is will I be entitled to MA again this time around?

Thanks in advance.

Sarah

[Deleted User]

Yes as long as you pay your class 2 NI, or you have paid enough when you apply really.

Income doesn't count for self employed people, despite how people read it, they never ask how much you earn, they also don't ask for pay slips, they do check you have paid the NI though, you can't pay NI via direct debit as it doesn't get applied to account in time for when they check it (even though you are paying)

Hope that helps - we did this.