Sure Start Maternity Grant - Decision

dawnmorris

Hi forum,

My baby was born on 27th December 2020.

https://www.gov.uk/sure-start-maternity-grant

I filled out the Sure Start Maternity Grant form on 17th June and posted it that same day too.  I haven’t been successful which I do not think is fair or right. I received a text message on 23rd June confirming they have got it and that I would hear from them within 21 days.

I have provided the dates above and I work it out at 5 months and 21 days. Call it 2-3 days for the letter to reach them and it is still within the 6 months.

This is what the letter said below.


——-
We cannot pay you a Sure Start Maternity Grant This is due to the reason below:

Your claim was made too early or too late. You need to claim the grant within 11 weeks of the baby’s due date or within 6 months after the baby’s birth.
——-


Do you think I should appeal, which it says I can do on the reverse of the letter or will I just be wasting my time?

Thanks for looking at my post.

Dawn

poppy12345

dawnmorris said:

Call it 2-3 days for the letter to reach them and it is still within the 6 months.

Nope. Even during normal times it can take at least 10 working days for mail to reach DWP, this is because it has to go through a mail sorting process first. There's huge delays at the moment due to obvious reasons and it's taking at least 3 weeks for anything to arrive and be added to the computer.

You've had almost 8 months to apply for this, was there any reason why you left it so late?

I have no idea if there's any point in request a Mandatory Reconsideration for this but others will know.

poppy12345

Also to add, on 16th June you posted and asked about the grant and also asked "if you were to claim UC" thread here.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6275794/sure-start-maternity-grant-universal-credit#latest

To be eligible for the grant you must claim a qualifying benefit. Do you now claim UC? If so when did you claim it? You were cutting it rather fine to qualify for the grant within that timescale.

When you start a claim for UC it takes 4 weeks to receive your first statement and payment is then made 6 days after this, so 4 weeks and 6 days in total. I don't think you'll be classed as actually claiming it until you've received a first payment but others will know for sure.

dawnmorris

poppy12345 said:

dawnmorris said:

Call it 2-3 days for the letter to reach them and it is still within the 6 months.

Nope. Even during normal times it can take at least 10 working days for mail to reach DWP, this is because it has to go through a mail sorting process first. There's huge delays at the moment due to obvious reasons and it's taking at least 3 weeks for anything to arrive and be added to the computer.

You've had almost 8 months to apply for this, was there any reason why you left it so late?

I have no idea if there's any point in request a Mandatory Reconsideration for this but others will know.

Thanks for replying to my post.

I understand what your saying, the reason why I kind of left it to the last minute minute was because I only just started claiming Universal Credit from the 16th June.
  

The bottom line is I am in the 6 month window aren’t I?

Dawn

dawnmorris

poppy12345 said:

Also to add, on 16th June you posted and asked about the grant and also asked "if you were to claim UC" thread here.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6275794/sure-start-maternity-grant-universal-credit#latest

To be eligible for the grant you must claim a qualifying benefit. Do you now claim UC? If so when did you claim it? You were cutting it rather fine to qualify for the grant within that timescale.

When you start a claim for UC it takes 4 weeks to receive your first statement and payment is then made 6 days after this, so 4 weeks and 6 days in total. I don't think you'll be classed as actually claiming it until you've received a first payment but others will know for sure.

Thanks again for replying to my post.

I started claiming Universal Credit from the 16th June, the claim start date starts from the date it was submitted, mine being the 16th June.

Dawn

calcotti

You have nothing to lose so I see no harm in appealing. Explain that you claimed UC from 16th June and posted the SSMG on 17th June. (I assume you don’t have proof of posting). You consider it reasonable to expect DWP to receive the claim within the 10 days that would have kept you within the qualifying period.

poppy12345

dawnmorris said:

poppy12345 said:

Also to add, on 16th June you posted and asked about the grant and also asked "if you were to claim UC" thread here.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6275794/sure-start-maternity-grant-universal-credit#latest

To be eligible for the grant you must claim a qualifying benefit. Do you now claim UC? If so when did you claim it? You were cutting it rather fine to qualify for the grant within that timescale.

When you start a claim for UC it takes 4 weeks to receive your first statement and payment is then made 6 days after this, so 4 weeks and 6 days in total. I don't think you'll be classed as actually claiming it until you've received a first payment but others will know for sure.

Thanks again for replying to my post.

I started claiming Universal Credit from the 16th June, the claim start date starts from the date it was submitted, mine being the 16th June.

Dawn

I don't think that's correct. The following is copied from a link.

If you are not sure whether you meet the conditions (for example, because you are waiting for your benefits claim to be decided), then you should claim the grant within six months of the baby’s birth anyway

Here's the link. https://workingfamilies.org.uk/articles/sure-start-maternity-grant/

Although your claim for UC has started, you won't know for certain whether you're entitled to anything until you receive your statement (4 weeks after your claim started) payment is then made 6 days later.

By the time this happens you will be outside the maximum time you can apply.

olgadapolga

dawnmorris said:

I filled out the Sure Start Maternity Grant form on 17th June and posted it that same day too.  I haven’t been successful which I do not think is fair or right. I received a text message on 23rd June confirming they have got it and that I would hear from them within 21 days.

If you received a text from them on 23rd June stating that they'd received the form then that is within the six month time limit quoted.

You have nothing to lose by appealing, other than a bit of time and effort. Can you screenshot the text from your phone as proof that they received the form on 23rd June?

I'd definitely appeal, given what you've said, just make sure that you do it within any time constraints they've set for appealing. Good luck!

Robbie64

What is the date on the decision letter refusing you a Sure Start Maternity Grant? Is it possible the decision was made before a decision was made on your first UC payment?

dawnmorris

Thanks to you all for replying back to my post.

I can confirm my claim start date is 16th June, I have been told the day it gets submitted is the day it goes live from.

I have been paid Universal Credit for period 16th June - 15th July.


——-

Letter dated from them was 13th July.

We cannot pay you a Sure Start Maternity Grant. This is due to the reason below:

Your claim was made too early or too late. You need to claim the grant within 11 weeks of the baby’s due date or within 6 months after the baby’s birth.

——-


A friend of mine works for Royal Mail and has told me anything address to government in this case DWP is treated as 1st class mail even if it is freepost. 

I can only think my application form has been somewhere in DWP with the rest of mail waiting to be opened, maybe there is a back log I don’t even know about. They may not have had the same volume of staff working maybe due to COVID?

Do they have targets to reject so many grants so then they don’t have to pay out and save money?

Thanks for looking at my post.

Dawn

sheramber

Before you ask for mandatory reconsideration

If you’re not sure whether to ask for mandatory reconsideration or what evidence to give, call the benefits office dealing with your claim. They’ll be able to explain the reason for your benefit decision and answer any questions.

You can still ask for mandatory reconsideration after you’ve spoken to your benefits office.