Advise Needed

mercman_3

Greetings all,


Once again I find myself turning to this forum for advise, here is the problem;

We are expecting our 1st born at the beginning of September, we are really looking forward to it and have started to make some plans for the future, including booking it into a nursery from January 06!

Both my wife and I work full time, although I currently work shifts, the wife commutes an hour to / from work each day.

To date nobody has informed us as to what, if anything we can claim once the baby is born. naturally we knopw that state child benefit is paid, but what else is offered to assist with things such as nursery fees ect ect?


Any help or guidence will be gratefully appreciated


Best regards


merc

Woby_Tide

all depends on income, if you got the inland revenue website you can fill in an online form that will tell you what you are entitled to in terms of child tax credits and working tax credits. To get any help with childcare costs you need to be eligible for the working tax credit part

Spendless

Hi

For tax credits it depends on income as the previous poster said. There is an additional tax credit for babies until they are 1 year old called the baby element, it is worth an extra £545pa.

Maternity pay is now 26 weeks so is it definate that your wife willbe going back to work in Jan? I'd have thought her paid maternity wouldn't be up by then and AFAIK you can't have both maternity pay and your wages.

Child benefit for the eldest child is £17 a week and not means tested.

You could find out more info from somewherelike the materity alliance.

Good Luck

Smiley_Mum

You'd get the Child Trust Fund cheque too I take it, automatically or do you have to apply. I know that's not really a benefit but if it's there...

chugalug

Theres also a scheme where you get vouchers from your employer for registered childcare - these are free from tax and NI but your employer has to be part of the scheme and there is a monthly limit. Dont forget you are also entitled to ask to work flexible hours if you have a child under 6.

mercman_3

Thanks ALL for the posts, please keep em coming

Best Regards


Merc

mini

Hi & Congratulations!

Not quite what you were asking, I just wanted to check your wife knows she can get free prescriptions & dental treatment whilst pregnant & I think it's up to a year after baby is born, this website may be useful http://www.maternityalliance.org.uk/

mini

jo_b_2

Smiley_Mum wrote:

You'd get the Child Trust Fund cheque too I take it, automatically or do you have to apply. I know that's not really a benefit but if it's there...

You will get the Child Trust Fund cheque automatically once you start claiming Child Benefit. You don't have to make a separate claim for it.

katglasgow

Hi.

Child Benefit is £66 every 4 weeks. You apply for this as soon as you have registered the child's birth, you get the forms for this at the hospital once your baby is born,its very straightforward.

You can also try for Child Tax Credits, the amont you get varies according to your income, but anyone with a joint income of less than £50K will get something. When I was pregnant I phone up the helpline and asked what we would get and they gave me an answer there and then on the phone they were very helpful. Again you will get a form for this at the hospital and apply once the baby is born. There is a special "baby element" that you get as a top up for first year also - remember to budget for when this dissappears, we forgot!

If you're income is quite low you can apply for assistanct for nursery fees as part of the tax credits. It is quite a low joint income through, so check first!

Another thing wort bearing in mind is that Child Tax Credits are all based on your P60 - what you actually earned the year befopre. So if you've had a rise, changed conditions or done overtime this could be an underestimate of what you might earn the next year which can result in you being given too much tax credits and having to pay some back! I always phone the tax credits and given them an estimated projected earnings firgure for the year which takes into account potential ovetime my partner is lkkely to do to cover us against this. If he then doesnt earn that much we might get a little extra Tax Credits at the year end but we never end up losing anything!

Remember also you can both ask your employers if they offer to pay childcare vouchers - this is tax free so its a good deal for you and both mum and dad can get them.

I had to pay a £50 retainer to reserve my nursery place for when time came but I have heard of some people paying up to £500!!! Nursery fees are very expensive, but if you find the right one it makes such a difference. Half my salary goes on my son's fees but out of all the bills we have its one that I dont grudge paying they provide such a lot for him and he loves it there.

Spendless

katglasgow wrote:

Hi.

Child Benefit is £66 every 4 weeks. You apply for this as soon as you have registered the child's birth, you get the forms for this at the hospital once your baby is born,its very straightforward.

You can also try for Child Tax Credits, the amont you get varies according to your income, but anyone with a joint income of less than £50K will get something.

From the 11.4.2005 child benefit for the eldest is £17 a week. When i had youngest 2 years ago it was paid from the Monday after they have born so if you have a Sunday child you'll be eligible from the folowing day if you have a Monday child (like i did-lol) you'll have to wait a week.

It is also higher than £50,000 joint income for a newborn to be eligible for CTC. Its definately in the £60,000 range and I think its £66,000.

Poppy9

Don't forget you should be entitled to Paternity leave too.