Employer has been paying me maternity pay but now says I'm not entitled

[CupCupGoose]

But I know I am! They've been paying me for 4 weeks as they hadn't worked it out properly but now their accountant has come back saying I didn't earn enough in the qualifying weeks. I've checked and checked again and I definitely have! So now they are saying I have to pay it back.

Does anyone have any advice? I gave my matb1 in on time and I've not received any letters ect from them so I don't even know what info they are working my entitlement out from.

I definitely don't think I'm going to get anywhere with my employer as he's not the most people friendly person. I told him I was pregnant at 9 weeks due to hyperemesis and he basically had a go at me for not telling him earlier even though I hadn't even told some of my family yet.

I'll give him a chance to sort it but if not I'll definitely be ringing the hmrc helpline.

Also thank you for everyone who has replied. My milk has just come in and I'm feeling very fragile and emotional today so I really appreciate everyone taking the time to reply.

Hiya, congratulations on the birth of your little one! I'm so sorry to read this! I just wanted to share my experience of the HMRC disputes team. I was made redundant whilst on mat leave (company went into liquidation), and was very glad I contacted them within 24 hours. They have a bit of a backlog and they estimated originally that there would be about a 2 month wait for them to deal with my case once I'd returned the forms to them but I've recently spoken with them for an update and it may be longer. They are very nice and helpful but clearly under staffed so you might want to think about speaking to them sooner. I think the general advice is to contact them as soon as you're aware of a problem, and they will also liaise with your employer. Oh, and it took lots of attempts to get through to them! Good luck OP 🍀

Just a bit of an update. So when asked for what figures/dates ect the accountant used to come to their decision, it turns out that there was a 'glitch in the system' and I am entitled to maternity pay! Plus they had been underpaying me so have paid me what they owe. Its such a relief! Thanks to everyone for your help!

I'm so glad, I bet that's a huge relief.

Great news, I'm happy it's sorted for you!

Brilliant :)

Ah bless you, that's something you could have done without. I hope you're enjoying the time with baby now and few less stressed

Strange how the 'glitch' is only discovered when it became clear that you weren't going to roll over, isn't it?

Well done for sticking to it at the hardest possible time - enjoy your baby and the rest of your leave!

Yes I agree it's strange this glitch was discovered when I asked for details! I'm probably being overly emotional bit I'm upset that this ruined some of ds first week of life for me, as its all I could think about. Just a weight off my shoulders!

Hopefully you can put it behind you now.

Glad this has been sorted.

They're completely out of order to contact you at this time. You have to have 2 weeks off to recover from the birth and contacting you about something this stressful is absolutely disgusting.

Plus, your SMP isn't costing them anything because they can claim it back from HMRC.

If you have any further problems, Maternity Action are a charity working in this area.

what crappy employers!