Help! Maternity Allowance/SMP1 form

[Holly1712]

Hi is there anyone here who has recently applied for Mat allowance? I’m not eligible for maternity pay as I haven’t worked for the company long enough.

my employer has filled out the SMP1 form but I’m not sure on the dates for part c.

the maternity pay period date: would that be the date I start maternity leave or the first date of the qualifying week that I would have received SMP?
Im going to call the maternity allowance helpline tomorrow to check but wondered if anyone knew this or could give me an example of their own.

thanks

@Holly1712 I'm in the process of doing my application at the moment. It's confusing isn't it! My employer filled out those dates on the SMP1 form based on my MatB1 form and dates I provided for my mat leave, might be worth going back to them?

I think the maternity pay period is from when you've chosen to start your mat leave, but again it's probably worth checking.

The form you need to fill in is the MA1 form, there's a calculator though on the gov website which helps you calculate the relevant dates. Good luck, I'm just sending mine off and hoping for the best!

Thank you so much for your response! I’ve been told different things which is why I’m struggling a little. My payroll are pretty adamant that the maternity pay period would be when I start maternity leave but then I’ve also been told elsewhere that it should be the qualifying week for SMP 🙈

I have the maternity allowance form all ready to be sent off and my pay slips etc I just need confirmation on this one date but I’ll check with maternity allowance helpline tomorrow. Happy to pop back on here and confirm either way.
its just an extra stress that isn’t needed really isn’t it

Hey, what was the outcome in the end?

im in the same situation currently with forms etc all ready to go but need to fill this date in and can’t find any guidance anywhere. Stuck on hold to see if I can find out more on the helpline

thanks

The maternity pay period is the date your maternity leave will start 😊

Just had my claim approved and the mat pay period is the date I started maternity leave

No way! I called up the helpline today shortly after posting and the guy told me it’s the first date you can claim maternity from which is 11 weeks before due date - he didn’t sound like he knew what he was on about though

I posted it today so will have to see what they come back with

As its the SMP1 form I imagine it would be the earliest date that MA could start I.e. at 29 weeks

You would give the date you want MA to start on the MA1 form

I did my one of those recently and just put a date of two weeks after my due date because I haven't stopped working yet (you can't be paid both salary and MA). If you're not working you can start your claim now. They approved my claim and sent me another form to send to them with the dates of when the baby is born, so my payments will start on the dot when baby comes along. Hope that helps!

Thanks, on my ma1 form I have put the date I wish my maternity allowance to start but this is the smp1 form that my employer fills out - it states maternity pay period (the date from which you could take maternity pay) which is 11 weeks prior - was a confusing one as I wasn’t going to get maternity pay anyway but hopefully all sorted now