Maternity Allowance delay

[lbsjob87]

Does anyone know how long MA is taking to process at the moment (as of June 14)?
I am 37 weeks, I finished work on May 23rr but was advised I couldn't claim before that date.
I sent my form off same day, so nearly 4 weeks. I've phoned today to see if there's any progress, apparently they haven't even received it yet!
I am not getting paid from work now (only started in November so not entitled to SMP) and really need to at least know when it's coming so I can budget.
I have to ring on Monday "to see if they've found it" and if not they will "raise an incident" which essentially means they will look a bit harder.
Anyone have similar experience who can advise how long it's likely to take?
Am getting a bit worried about running out of money, as my payday is usually next week but this month I'll get zero.

Hi I had a similar situation with MA a few years ago. In my case they said they would look into it and then 2 weeks later they sent me a letter saying I hadn't sent my MAT1b form in and so my form could not be processed. I had sent the form in they had just lost it! In your situation I would chase it up but also get all your paperwork together again in case you have reapply.

When I applied for my MA (in May) it took about 6 weeks instead of the 3 weeks I was advised. However, I was later than I intended in applying, so this meant I got 3 months' pay all in one go, which was rather nice

Mine took ages to process unfortunately. :(

Was that the first form or the second? I sent the first at 28 weeks and received a letter saying I would be entitled to MA and another form to send when I finished work as I didn't have a date initially. Like you I sent that one the day I finished at 37 weeks. Didn't receive any money for 6 weeks. I phoned them after a couple of weeks and they had received it but they were very busy and dealing with a backlog. I phoned again after I'd had my baby (and he was 10 days overdue!) and they said they could bump me up the priority list if I was single but as my partner had a job I'd have to wait because of their backlog. I eventually got paid and it was backdated to when I finished work but it was a horrible time not knowing when I'd receive it!

I'd ring again and express concerns - if they haven't received it ask what you're supposed to do, will they need a new form etc. Tell them you need it to start ASAP

Hope it all gets sorted xx

I finished work 2 weeks before baby was born but I waited til I had a birth cert before sending my MA form. I must have sent it about 2 wks after baby was born. It took about 8 weeks to get the 1st payment but it was backdated.

Mine was delayed by about 8 weeks. Again, backdated and running smoothly now.