Temp worker - what benefits can I claim?

[HooperMummy]

I finished University in July of this year and it took me a good few of months to find a job.

As I am married and my husband works fulltime, I was told that I was not entitled to any financial support whatsoever.

I have since found sporadic work as a temp but my current contract finishes in the second week of January when I will be 28 weeks pregnant.

I know that one of the conditions of Maternity Allowance is that you must have worked 26 weeks in the 66 weeks preceding your due date but I think I'm going to be short by a couple of weeks (a lot depends on how quickly I find work etc.)

My husband only earns £15,000pa and even with my income as a temp, we are barely making ends meet.

I am really worried that I will find it hard to find work after the end of this contract and that we will not have enough money to survive on.

As the Jobcentre and CAB were so unhelpful the last time we needed help, I was hoping a Mumsnetter might be able to help, or at least point me in the direction of someone who can.

If things are this bad now, how are we going to cope when the baby arrives?

bump

Hi Hoopermummy
Have you got the form for maternity allowance? I have just sent mine away, I am self employed. I think it is worth getting one, filling it in and sending it off. You can get it by going into jobcentre and they will just give you one. Because you have been employed you will also need a form for the temp agency/employer to fill out saying that they will NOT be paying you maternity money -not a big deal, just states you are not eligible to it from them.
I would imagine that because you were not working due to being at university that would count for something but you would have to ask.
There are other things you can apply for which will help.
There is a Surestart maternity grant which is a one off payment to help towards buying prams etc.
Do you already have kids? If so, you are presumably already claiming tax credits and child benefit. If not, you can claim tax credits even if you have no kids as long as you fit the criteria, worth asking, because you and your husband are working but on a relatively low income. When you have the baby you can claim tax credits which will be a big help as you get extra in the childs first year. When the baby is born you can also claim child benefit, which all helps too.
Hope that helps, and if you need any other help/details please ask.

Hi humptynumpty

Thanks so much for that. We don't already have kids so we are a bit new to the whole tax credits thing.

Everyone was so unhelpful when I finished uni and couldn't find work that it's scared me from going back and asking again! However, I am going to get my backside down to the Jobcentre and definitely apply for maternity allowance - at least I'll know either way. I'm also going to look into the Surestart maternity grant too.

Thanks again for posting - I may well be in touch at some point if the Jobcentre turn out to be as useless and generally patronising as they were last time!

Have a look on the DirectGov site - I found this bit about Maternity Allowance and it does say if you're not entitled to MA, you may be able to get Employment and Support Allowance instead.

www.direct.gov.uk/en/MoneyTaxAndBenefits/BenefitsTaxCreditsAndOtherSupport/Expectingorbri ngingupchildren/DG_10018869

When is your baby due? I'm due in May and because of my income, we're only entitled to the basic amounts of tax credits, but I've worked out that we'll get about £20 per week tax credits and £20 child benefit per week. If you're on a low income, you'll get more than that.

Have a look at www.entitledto.co.uk. It will give you a rough idea of what benefits you could be entitled to, including tax credits, and will give you a rough idea of what you'll get.

What I will say re the Job Centre is print off the Direct Gov information that says if you can't get Maternity Allowance, you may be able to get ESA and show it to them if they're unhelpful.

I used to work in tax credits and what I will say is once you've had your baby, put your claim in for child benefit first as it can hold up a tax credits claim if you don't already have child benefit.

Oh, and don't forget about the Health In Pregnancy grant that you can claim from 25 weeks pregnant. Ask your midwife for the info.

Oh yes forgot about that one. I just sent off my form for health in pregnancy, that is £190 for all regardless of income etc...
I would try to put in a claim for tax credits anyway, if you are working and on a low income you can get working tax credits even if you don't have kids.

here is a link to tax office website, it says you can fill in a quick questionaire to find out if you are eligible for tax credits - worth 5 minutes of your time.
As far as I remember, you get the child benefit form when you register your baby, you just fill it in and send it off.
the sure start maternity grant link is here you probably won't qualify before the baby is born, but you can apply afterwards. It is a one off payment of £500. Assuming you apply for tax credit and you only earn £15,000 I would apply for it, because you will probably get it.

Hi again
here is a link to Dept work pensions. It says if your claim for maternity allowance is refused, you will automatically be assessed for employment support allowance.
I would get the form for maternity allowance asap, it says you can put in your application so many weeks before the baby is due. You might as well get it filled in, it's not too complicated, and then at least they can crack on with sorting you out with something else if you're not eligible.

you can also register as self employed and then pay the stamp that entitles you to mat leave

Thank you all so much for your advice. I've just been in touch with my local Jobcentre and they've told me that we are basically not entitled to anything, although we may be entitled to a tiny amount of working tax credit. If we are then we will be able to claim the Surestart grant but if not, then we can't claim anything.

The lady I spoke to said I would only be entitled to the Employment and Support Allowance if I had a medical reason for not working i.e. the doctor has told me not to work but that is not the case for me. My situation is more 'want to work but can't find any'.

I was also told that my stint at Uni doesn't count for anything - as I won't have worked for 26 weeks in the 66 weeks prior to my due date, Maternity Allowance is out too. However, I think I might still apply just in case I am eligible for ESA and the Jobcentre lady got it wrong...

I've sent off for the Health in Pregnancy Grant already but, if I don't find work at the end of this contract, the money will just get swallowed up by bills.

I've just spent the last half hour in floods of tears - I know I'm hormonal but I can't understand how we aren't entitled to any help at all! We don't have any rich relatives who can help us out which essentially means that our baby will probably be sleeping in a cardboard box until I can get back out to work. Just doesn't seem fair somehow...

Thank you to everbody anyway tho - it was worth a try I suppose.

OMG what is up with these smug bastards in the job centre. Did you do that questionairre for tax credits I linked to? I think the only sticking point might be your ages, don't know how old you are, but i think if you don't have kids there is a minimum age for claiming working tax credits before you have kids. You will def get it once the baby is born.
And I don't see why you wouldn't get the sure start money once baby is born, i applied for it once we had tax credits when dd was born (my first child).
According to the dept work pensions link I did above, it says if you dont get maternity allowance, you can apply for employment support allowance, then you can apply for jobseekers or you can apply for income support. Please don't worry, you will get something sorted.
My midwife gave me a booklet folder thingy about money and benefits and all taht. I will look it out and see if there is a helpline or something.
here is link to tax credits with phone number to get an application form. No harm in filling it in.
I know it's probably the last thing you want to do right now, but you never know, you may be surprised and get something for now and definately more when baby comes.
It will be ok.
chin up
xx

humptynumpty - I did do the questionnaire you linked to and it said we may be entitled to about £7.75 per week (!!) but anything is better than nothing at this stage!

The only problem is that when I phoned up to get an application pack, they were "unable to verify my identify" over the phone so now I have to go down to the local tax office in person - why is nothing ever easy?!!!

Hopefully we should be entitled to some form of housing benefit too if I cannot find work after this contract ends, but I'm not going to hold my breath...

Thank you so much for all your advice - it has certainly made me feel less lonely if nothing else!

Oh for goodness sake. Why is everything so difficult? If I was you, I would go and get the bloody forms and send them off, as you said, will be better than nothing and you might get some backdated which would be a bonus. then as soon as your circumstances change ie you stop work, phone them and your money should hopefully go up!!
If they couldn't verify your identity, is there a mismatch with your national insurance number and your address etc...? If so, it might be worth sorting that out when you're at the tax office as well.
I assume that if you have only been working since the summer you haven't earned too much money, so hopefully you will be able to get get back any tax that you may have paid? I think the threshold for paying tax is all earnings over £6000 so if you earned less than that, you should get all your tax back, ask them about that too!!
I really feel for you, that it is all so difficult, especially when you are feeling miserable and fed up!!
Don't worry, it will be ok, but looks like you will have to do the donkey work for it!!

Also, all is not lost on the maternity allowance front, how many weeks are you short? fingers crossed you can get some work of some description for a few weeks even if it's a totally rubbish job, and then you will have fulfilled the criteria!
Have my toes crossed for you!

at the mo I'm 11 weeks short and, seeing as how I'm due on 5th April, I think it's highly unlikely that I'm going to get the necessary weeks for MA but I'm still going to try... I know lots of women work right up to their due date but I'm feeling the strain already! Plus, I will have to rely completely on public transport to get to and from a new place of work and the thought of that makes me want to cry (it takes a good hours to get anywhere decent from where I live). Still, needs must when the devil drives and all that.

I'll definitely be requesting a tax rebate come April but it won't be much as I've only been working since mid September. Bit confused as to why the tax office couldn't verify my identity as they have sent me correspondence to my current address!! It is almost funny when you think about it.

Thanks for the sympathy - my support network consists of just my husband (and he feels responsible for the financial problems cos he thinks he should be earning more so I try not to burden him with this stuff) so it's nice to get some kind words!

bloody tax office is a nightmare. they have said that to me before, but they ask such bizarre questions like "what was your shoe size when you were 6?" or similar ridiculous ones!!!

I am still looking for this manage your pregnant money book thing, will let you know as soon as I find it!

I'm seeing my midwife on Thursday so I'm going to ask her about it too - it does seem a bit strange that I wasn't provided with any info on benefits that I may be entitled to...

Mind you, I haven't even been issued a MATB1 certificate yet and I'm 27 weeks!

god, yeah, get onto that.
It was a ringbinder thing she gave me about money.
still havfen't found it, but looking!!

Just wanted to post an update...

Saw the midwife today and she gave me one leaflet regarding the SureStart grant and told me she doubted I would be eligible for it! She then said that if I needed any more info, I should go down to the job centre!

Suffice to say I am feeling incredibly pissed off!! Argh!!