Yes i did tell them I was on SMP, i called to tell them this specifically, as my wages were going to reduce to pretty much nothing, i wanted to know if i could get any more than the £40 per month (in July), and the woman advised that she would take my income for this year as provisional income, otherwise they would go on last years wages when DH and I were both working pretty much full time. They then gave me in increase in payments, and when I told them baby was born, they increased it again by more than I was expecting. Luckily, they have withheld 2 months of payments due as 'provisional payments' so it means if I am being overpaid, this will not be paid first, before taking any overpayments from my benefit entitlements, so I should not be landed with a hefty bill (i hope!)
It seems that we were earning, just too much to be entitled to anything much, and through no fault of our own we have ended up here. Problem is, DH is struggling to find work over x amount, which would take us to the point where we would break even/earn more than how we are now.
But if this means that DH can retrain and stand a chance of getting a better job and jumping that barrier we find ourselves in front of, and in the mean time i can ensure our children are not in childcare for too long each week, I am happy with that.
I do want us to get out of the situation where we depend on this money though, as we will never get ourselves back into full time work else.
DH said he wants to work, he has no problem working full time to break even/make more money, but not to be worse off when he can use his time more wisely for the good of the family.
Do you know how much the reduction is when a child is over one purple? Is it significant?