yet another maternity question relating to self employment!

[lydiathetattooedlady]

i have been self employed since november 2007, and pay class 2 national insurance, iam now getting confused as to whether i only get £30 a week MA or do i get £117 a week? i have since i have been self employed always earned £100 plus a week and do not hold a SEC. im starting to panic as i thought id get a rate of £117 but everyhting i research on self employed MA refers to £30 a week!

I think it's if you earn above £30p/w but below the level where you pay NI (about £90p/w) then you get about £117 or 90% of your earnings if less. I'm not sure on the higher rate of £117, it's been a while since I looked at it.

It's at least £30. £117pw or 90% of your average earnings - whichever is less. Your average earnings can be taken from any 13 weeks in the 60 week 'test period', which is the 60 weeks up to the date your baby's due, so pick weeks where you earned more than £117 and you'll get the full whack.

Hi i'm claming ma ask your local job centre they can give you the number for the dept that deals with ma. To work out what you will recieve you have to look at a think its called test sheet which is like a calender you then have to select around any 6 weeks then you work out your average pay over that 6 weeks. Sounds a bit confusing but its not too bad. You either get £117 or 90% of your average wage which ever is less. So if you know that for any 6 weeks you earned over £117 then you should get the full amount.

best of luck

ooh thanks for quick responses, i should hopefully get full amount then as my weekly payment amount has always been between £125-£150.
is it for 39 weeks too or 52? i saw on another thread and my sister who is also pregnant but employed saw on the internet that as of this april smp will be for 52 weeks, does that classs for self employed people too?

As I understand it, if you've paid Class2 NI , you'll get the full rate. I found this page on the DWP website where it says 'If you have paid Class 2 NI contributions at the end of each week in your 13 week earnings period, you will be treated as having enough earnings to receive standard rate MA.' I'm not an expert in these things, but I am self-employed and facing the prospect of filling the wretched Maternity Allowance form again soon. I am NOT looking forward to it! Last time I unded up crying because I was so confused and DH had to fill it in!

i have the forms through but it did really confuse me as it only mentions £30 a week which worried me! it says they will reing to check im up to date with national insurance contributions but what else will i need to provide? 13 invoices of the weeks i earnt the most and proof of payment?

I'm pretty sure it will still be 39 weeks. There is a plan to make it 52 weeks but this is currently shelved....

oh well 39 weeks is still pretty good! it was 26 last time for me!

It's about 9 months - whatever that is in weeks! I didn't need to provide any proof of income.

I'm echoing mascarpone - as long as you've paid your NI contributions they assume that you're making above the threshold and pay the full wack. I certainly wasn't making enough per week to qualify otherwise, but had been self-employed long enough so got the full payment.

DD was born March 2008, so double check it hasn't changed, but you should be good!

There might be a clause in it, however, that you can't go back to work or earn any money once you start receiving payments - I didn't pay too much attention as managed to sell the business but you might want to check to be sure.

I've just claimed my maternity allowance, self employed for many years but don't make a fortune. I've always paid NI and have never had to let them know my earnings. (3rd pregnancy) I had a letter last week confirming i get £117 per week. you should get that too. I called my local jobcentre, they went through lots of questions with me and sent out a form. easy peasy

this is interesting.
I'm self employed and always pay class 2 NI. I always thought that I had to work 26 weeks before being entitled to MA. But from what I gather here, they don;t need you to prove you've done 26 weeks of work, just that you've paid your NI contributions. Is that right?

hi feelinglucky it may be worth contacting yur job centre and getting them to send out the forms. all that ive bee sent is a calender type thihg that says i need to have been self employed within the 66 weeks before baby is due, which is called test period. im due in july so my test period started year last march and i have been self employed that whole time and will do so until 38 weeks. so i presume if you have been self employed in the full 66 week test period you may be entitled, but i could be wrong??
if you post your due date i could check when your test period started to see if you may qualify?

thanks lydiathetattoolady.
I'm not actually pregnant ... yet Just thinking ahead about DC2, but have been TTC for ages.

I've just successfully claimed MA (am self-employed). As long as you have been paying Class 2s you don't have to provide proof of income, you automatically get the £117 a week. It's for 26 weeks.

I am just applying for this and I have the pack in front of me. So here are the rules...

It is for a period of up to 39 weeks

You have to have been employed or self employed for at least 26 weeks during the 66 weeks before the week you expect to have the baby

Your average gross earnings must be at least £30 per week

If you are registered as self employed and either pay class 2 contributions or have a small earnings exemption this will count as earning enough earnings.

You must have paid at least 13 class 2 contributions during your 66 week test period (or have held a small earnings exemption for at least 13 weeks in the 66 weeks) for this to count.

Clear?

And it is going up to £123 ish from april by the way.

I got my accountant to help me with mine! much easier as she knew what she was doing and mine was a bit more complicated as I am part self employed but also have a paye job for 2 hours a day Mon - fri.