Maternity allowance, is this right??

[itzybitzy]

So Iv just heard back from maternity allowance and they are going to be paying me £550 every 4 weeks. They are also back paying be £2000 as my baby was born in April.
My employer is paying me full pay for the first 6 months of my mat leave and gave me the form to complete to claim mat allowance as I won't be getting anything for the 3 months after that as I'm not entitled to statutory as I don't earn enough.
I was under the impression that mat allowance would pay me for the 3 months once my work mat pay ends.
But when I spoke to them today they said I should have been claiming from April, hence the back pay. I told her that work are paying me for the first 6 months that's why I didn't claim.
So essentially I'm going to be getting paid double what I would usually earn for 6 months!! This seems absurd to me but I'm not complaining. I'm going to put the money into a savings account and not touch it as I'm scared they will say they've made a mistake and want the money back.
Does this seem right?

It doesn't sound right but if that's what they've said if go with it. I went back to work before my MA expired and they paid me a reduced rate. I thought that was very odd but they insisted it was right.

You can't claim SMP & MA but I would think It's unusual for employers to give full pay to employees who don't qualify for SMP.

I agree it doesn't sound right so I would be wary but am no expert.

Maternity allowance is for when you don't qualify for SMP and sounds like you don't. You have an amazing employer if they are paying you discretionary maternity pay as they won't be able to claim the SMP part back as you don't qualify.