sure start maternity grant £500 ???

[charzie]

hello was just wondering if switching benefit messes up or delays this claim. As im currently on jsa until 29 weeks which is when il be switching to income support. i was wondering when i put my claim in for this grant il be in the process of changing benefit. do i have to wait until the benefit is set up before i put my claim in for the grant or can i stil claim while in the process of switching benefits? thanx

Dont apply for it until you're officially on IS! Will be much quicker in the long run. I know a couple people who have applied at the same time as changing over to IS and they were refused the grant as it took way longer to change to IS than they expected so to the people who sort out the grants it looks like you're not on benefits if that makes sense. One of those people is still waiting for the grant and her baby is due in Feb!
I get to change to IS this week and im gonna wait till its all gone through to make sure i hopefully get the money before my baby is here..hehe.

aw right thanks i thought that might of been the outcome thats why i thought id ask haha

Hi Charzie,
Quick question - I didn't think you could switch from JSA to Income Support until 6 weeks (not 11) before due date? Have you heard otherwise? Thanks.

Sorry, meant to add: do they switch you to Income Support or ESA? I was told they switched you to ESA!

Schnitzel... know you asked charzie but i know the answer so im butting in! Its at 29 weeks pregnant you can switch to income support. You have to phone or go in to job centre, they wont automatically do it for you and there will more than likely be a time lapse of a couple of weeks where you wont be getting any money while its all sorted and youll probably have an interview thing to take in proof and stuff that you're pregnant (besides having a huge bump haha). Dont know why the hell they would tell you that you will change to ESA or that its 6 weeks before!