August 2014: growing bumps and 20 week scans!!!

[Owlysims]

New thread!!!

Just had a look at that myself, it's long winded and seems a bit useless if you are expecting

Thanks Disney I'd seen that before, but yes it's all questions relating to my current situation, and entitled to nothing at the moment! I wonder if I try filling it out as me in August, IYSWIM. Might get somewhere

Eek no it's very long winded isn't it. They like to make it very difficult for you to work out what you're entitled to! I think we will have to just wait until baby is here and then see, I guess they can backdate payments if we are entitled to anything.

I was thinking the same thing

Just thought I'd pop by and see how the other back to schoolers are doing? First day back went ok yesterday - lots of gushing over the bump - but today it's only lunchtime and I'm shattered! Completely. Working till summer seems nigh on impossible... : (

Ok, child benefit you can download a form from the internet. As soon as you've registered the birth send the form and BC to the address on the form.

Tax credits, call as soon as baby is registered (number on HMRC website). They will backdate up to a month. They will send a form to complete and send off with proof of earnings. If your pay will be loads less due to mat leave, wait until you get your award notice and then call to advise.

I am super knackered too sleepy. Started feeling dizzy just before lunch time, must've needed food! I've managed to acquire a sore throat and general feeling of ickyness already on day 1! It's summer time too! They do say immune system is lowered in pregnancy I suppose.

I was wondering about the child benefit thing, I'm pretty sure I won't get much else but that one might be different I think.

My advice is apply for EVERYTHING, then it's a bonus if you qualify. And with tax credits, if you apply ASAP but don't qualify but your circs change mid year, they'll back pay from the date of application so you then benefit from being organised initially. :-)

Thanks for all of the advice Hungry that's brilliant!

Here's the CB form link:

www.hmrc.gov.uk/childbenefit/forms.htm

And the tax credits number:

search2.hmrc.gov.uk/kb5/hmrc/contactus/view.page?record=TC_tM5uswa0

And also, they deduct £100 per week off your earnings for every week you're on SMP, so if you gave the full 39 weeks it deducts £3900 from your annual earnings for the year. :-)

You're a star, thanks a million. Every penny counts doesn't it. Even if it's 80 a month thats a food shop for us! (likeley it will be more than that when baby is here though!)

Thanks Hungry!! have saved in my email for when I am all at sixes and sevens....!! have booked my first day of mat. leave, eeeek.

I've done the same. I rely on work for the rare printing I though we chucked our printer years ago, will have to get my mum to print for me.
Oooh fab Flymo I finalised mine last week and as each day goes on I feel like I wont make it! Feel like I hardly slept a wink last night and work is so intense at the moment. Just have to keep telling myself it's more paid time with baby but I feel like I might cave!

And also, they deduct £100 per week off your earnings for every week you're on SMP, so if you gave the full 39 weeks it deducts £3900 from your annual earnings for the year

They take money off you for working up to 39 weeks?

Or do you mean while we are on maternity leave and getting SMP? Do we have to mark down our normal salary even if we are getting way less that that?

Hello all from a very jet lagged euro. Having gone 4 hrs time difference east for holiday, then had a week back in the uk before coming 5 hrs time difference west for work, my body clock is all over the place. Centime has decided that whatever the clock says it's party time and has been going crazy for the past half hour (it's 6am here...).

I'm at a meeting for my entire dept worldwide and most people didn't know I was pg, so I have been getting a lot of attention and have had the same conversation at least 30 times (when's it due, boy or girl, how long are you taking off). It's lovely though to finally be in this position. It's amazing how when you open up about struggles conceiving you find many others in the same position. I haven't gone into details with work folk but mentioned to a few that we had a long tough road to get this far. One guy told me that he and his wife tried for 5 years to have their first and another said that both his kids are ivf babies.

same, pina, I'm tired every day and keep thinking what will I be like in July??! erk.
Glad you had a good hol euro, it's humbling to hear other peoples' stories sometimes, isn't it?
Disney, I think that horace is talking about tax, so the deductions they make are calculated to show that you haven't earned your full salary that year, I might be wrong but that's how I took it....
Does anyone have a scan booked for 28 weeks? Should we have one? bit confused as I've read on another thread about people having them....

I have no more scans after 20 weeks, do you not just get a 28 weeks scan if there is something that needs checked again or an eye kept on something. So if all was good at your 20 weeks scan the you don't need one. Different regions might have different procedures though.

Thanks for explaining that. I read it first thing after getting in to work and think I was still half asleep. It does make more sense now.

Sounds exhausting euro, it's funny how private we are about TTC but yet probably the best thing we could do is talk about it so people have realistic expectations of how long it can take and that when it does take you longer than expected that you aren't the only one to have gone through that.

Just looked and you're due the day after me Flymo Whats your leaving date at the moment? I get the impression from my work that I wouldn't be able to leave earlier and its sort of down to them as the first 3 weeks of what I take will be holiday, my official Maternity doesn't start until 28th July!

No 28 week scans here unfortunately!

Yes Euro I feel a bit like that about my MC, for me something I found hard was how it seemed to be such a taboo subject, so many people came forward who had had them and I had no idea! I think it would be a lot easier for people to cope with if people were more open about it.

Sorry, maybe that was badly explained.

If, for instance, your earnings are £15,000 for the tax year including your mat leave / SMP payments, and you have the full 39 weeks' SMP in that time, they will deduct £3900 from the £15000, giving you earnings of £11,100 for that year instead. Which means that if you do qualify for tax credits, you'll get more for that year.

I'm £11,000 down on 2012-2013, but with the £3,900, the figure they use is £14,900 less than 2012-2013.

If you know how much your salary will be down for the year, wait until you have your award and call them up, giving the accurate figures for this tax year. Otherwise, it's all based on the previous tax year's figures.

Clear as mud?! :-/

Piña, you tell them when you're leaving, not the other way round! You can start mat leave from 29 weeks and they cannot stop you doing this.

Don't let your employer dictate dates to you. Remember that your mat leave starts the day after you have baby, whether your official mat leave start date has passed or not. I.e. if you give birth on 21st July, your mat leave will start on 22nd, even though it's scheduled for 28th.

Check that you won't lose your annual leave if you go early.

I'm glad I don't work in finance haha :)

This is my problem, I can sell back a week at their discression, and carry a week over, and lose a week of the 3 weeks I have. So if they won't let me go early on holiday I'd have no choice but to risk losing the leave. They are a good company to work for but havent yet got my maternity cover so I think I'd struggle to get my way when it's down to annual leave and their discression :(
Still, saying all this I might still be bright as a button by July and it won't be a problem...

I have no idea about tax related stuff, I'll need to sit down and get my head around it all.

I've a meeting in half an hour with my HR rep, any advise on questions to ask?

yes Pina, agree with horace, I suppose it's different if you are planning to take some holiday (i.e. they might have to approve this - normally due to business needs), but otherwise you're allowed to take your mat. leave when you like, not when your work tells you. I know it has to start on the day after your baby is born, but you could take it from now, legally, if you wanted. I'm starting on 25 July, I have about 2 weeks leave left from my annual allowance but will do short weeks in July as I'm sure I'll be shattered and it will help me to ease out of any projects I'm on.
Disney, I was very confused by the two options my work gave for maternity pay, so I needed this fully explaining, and also asked them about some of the issues with keeping in touch days, holidays etc. I'm supposed to ask my boss before I go on mat. leave whether they will approve me rolling any holiday over, otherwise I might lose my whole entitlement! seems a bit mad. They also screw you over if you need any sick leave in your last trimester, they can technically count it as maternity leave and make you stop work/start mat. leave. It's sort of small print, I was a bit annoyed when I read about it so it's worth checking out whether you have a similar clause! Fingers crossed we're all fit and healthy till the end!!
Thanks for the ££ stuff Horace

PS pina, don't lose the leave, just take some short weeks/long weekends - you could start doing that from the end of June, right?