I've been made redundant whilst on maternity leave, can I still claim childcare costs for my oldest child?

[Blabbermouth96]

Hello,

I have been made redundant 8 weeks before my second child is due.

The plan was to always continue putting my oldest daughter in nursery whilst I was on maternity leave rather than disturbing her routine and taking her out.

Now I have been made redundant and I am technically unemployed, rather than on maternity leave, can I still claim child care costs back from Universal Credit?

Here are some facts that might help with your answer:

I received 39 weeks worth of statutory maternity pay as a lump sum payment with my final salary.

If I return to work before the 39 weeks is over I have to pay my previous employer back the statutory maternity pay they paid me.

If you are claiming universal credit you can claim childcare costs if you are receiving statutory maternity pay as well. (I have already received it in a lump sum).

I have contacted Universal Credit for their input but I got a standard reply that unless I go back to work I cannot claim Universal Credit. So at this rate I will need to return to work as soon as my second daughter is born.

Thank you for your help and understanding.

Unfortunately you won't get the student loan payments back. I got a lump sum when I left a job last year and student loans took about 70% of my wage that month, student.loans company are adament there's no way to refund it.

@Invisimamma that’s interesting because they talk about how to get a refund on their website!

@CornishTiger not yet, that will happen this month. I’m fully understanding of why I might get £0 in the next payment

Yes that's why I contacted them, they can only refund if overall you are under the payment threshold for the entire year, which for me is £25k and I've earnt slightly over that so no refund on any over payments is available. Worth a try but I haven't been able to get it.