Maternity Allowance help please!

[lizzyttc2017]

Hi,

I've just had a letter through about the maternity allowance I claimed for (I work full time, self employed as a photographer and I pay a fortune in tax). The letter told me I was only entitled to £27 a week instead of the £147 (or whatever it is).
I absolutely freaked out when I saw this as along with some savings I'm relying on maternity allowance to afford to live. I rang up and the man said that they have contacted HMRC to tell them I have claimed maternity allowance. They will write to me to give me the chance to pay my class 2 NI contributions early. Paying it early means they can to assess my claim again to see if it can be increased to the standard rate. I asked the man how long this is all going to take as I go on maternity leave next month and he was all like 'it takes as long as it takes'. Honestly I'm a bit of a mess right now with all the stress and pregnancy hormones, I could do without worrying about this! Has anybody had this problem?

Not experienced it myself but didn't want to read and run. Hope someone with good advice comes along soon

I did. Unprompted, they sent me an NI bill for a tiny amount (about £80 I think) and then I got a letter saying my maternity allowance had gone up from £27 to £147 and it was backdated for the weeks I had only received £27. X

Do it as quickly as you can. They turned mine around pretty quick but I’m sure they can backdate it.

Thank you ladies, I rang again and spoke to a more helpful lady who said I will be able to pay a small amount of NI early to increase how much I get. All in all this will take about 6 weeks or so which is a pain, hopefully they do backdate it and pay me more for the weeks I'll only be getting £27. Why does anything with tax and HMRC have to be so complicated!? It's times like this I envy those with employers who can just hand over their MATB form and it's sorted for them 🤦🏼‍♀️ thanks again ladies, hopefully this gets sorted soon x