council tax benefits and maternity pay

sineadgraham

Hi all, i have recently commenced my maternity leave on the 19th may.(had my baby on the 17th:T).unfortunately i was unable to claim SMP so filled in the paperwork for maternity allowance.i sent this away end of april/beginning of may and i havent been paid yet.was wondering how long it usually takes for this to start as i have bills that i need to pay.Also, would i be entitled to a reduced rate on my council tax as i only get £450 a month.my hubby still works full time so am unsure if we are entitled to it.
Thanks in advance for any help.

Js_Other_Half

Congratulations on the new baby

Council Tax benefit is dependent on your income - have you checked http://www.entitledto.com/default.aspx ?

Put in your claim for child benefit and child tax credit when you have some time...(when the LO starts sleeping more and you're feeling half way human again...;) )

caleo

Hi and Congratulations on the birth of your baby.

Have you claimed child tax Credits? there will also be your Child benefit (about £17 per week for your first child).

Have a look at www.entitledto.co.uk to see if that helps to give you an idea. I don't think you would get any help with council tax etc.


Sorry....have repeated the other post.....I started the post but got way laid......sorry.

Lip_Stick

I'm a single parent, and didn't get any council tax benefit when I was on maternity leave. I was getting SMP, Child Tax Credit and Working Tax Credit too though. I applied for housing benefit and got less than a fiver lol!

sineadgraham

thanks for the info.I dont get CTC and im currently paying back an overpayment from WTC (have been for nearly 3 years).This gets reinstated in november 2008.Have applied for my child benefit and updated my details with the WTC (sorry should have said this is my 2nd child) so was unsure of any entitlement re council tax.

tinkerbell84

sineadgraham wrote: »

Hi all, i have recently commenced my maternity leave on the 19th may.(had my baby on the 17th:T).

your maternity can't start after the baby is born - it'll run from the sunday before the birth

a friend of mine didn't get her maternity allowance till about 7 months after the baby was born (despite using her MP to try and get it sorted faster)

sineadgraham

tinkerbell84 wrote: »

your maternity can't start after the baby is born - it'll run from the sunday before the birth

a friend of mine didn't get her maternity allowance till about 7 months after the baby was born (despite using her MP to try and get it sorted faster)

My son was 2 weeks early hence the reason the mat leave was after:o.
:eek: 7 months, i am sorry but i will not be waiting that length of time.im being hounded for my bills and there is only so many times i can say "waiting on my maternity allowance being paid".Is there any way i can force this to quicken.Have had a letter from jobcentre saying they are looking into my claim so its now a waiting game.cheers for the info:T

tinkerbell84

don't think so. even knowing someone that knew the cabinet minister for the DWP didn't help my friend. :rolleyes:

and they will backdate your maternity to start before your son was born - it can't start afterwards officially.

stazi

Sorry, tinkerbell84 some of your statements about MA are not entirely correct-
'it'll run from the sunday before the birth'-not true. MA is payable from the earliest date of 11 weeks before the Expected Week of Childbirth (EWC), or upto the week after the woman stops work and notifies JCP.

'it can't start afterwards officially' - in certain circumstances (not this case), yes it can. If a MA claim is more than 3 months late, JCP can only backdate it 3 months, which could be after the Actual Date of Childbirth (ADC).

MA claims normally take 1-3 weeks to decide, provided all the information such as payslips, MatB1, SMP1 and the MA claim form are all provided and correct.

tigtag02

tinkerbell84 wrote: »

your maternity can't start after the baby is born - it'll run from the sunday before the birth

a friend of mine didn't get her maternity allowance till about 7 months after the baby was born (despite using her MP to try and get it sorted faster)

It will start from the day after the baby is born (no longer has to run sun/sat) unless in the cases stazi states.

Your friend, whilst unfortunate, isnt the norm. Dont worry OP, its VERY unlikey you will be waiting 7 months.

sineadgraham

Thanks for all the info:T.im just hoping the maternity pay kicks in soon as im being hounded for bills and it is really beginning to get me down.we have struggled financially for 5 months and have finally got ourselves sorted and certainly dont want to go back down that road.