self empoyment maternity allowance, please help :(

[mandygj]

ive posted this in two sections as im not sure where is best to ask

hi im looking for any advice anyone can give me.
i have been self employed (hairdressing) for a year next month and when i registered self employed i said i wanted to pay class 2 national insurance contributions. i got a letter a few months ago for the amount of £55 which i paid in full at the post office a few weeks ago (had until end of july to pay it)
anyways im 30 weeks pregnant and i sent my form off for maternity allowance about 2 weeks ago.
im really panicking that im not eligable for maternity pay, im not sure how it all works and im going to really really struggle if im not entitled to it, does anyone know about maternity allowance when self employed and had any similiar experiences?
ive read a lot about class 2 national insurance and it makes it easier to get maternity allowance if you have been paying it, but im not sure how long or how much you have had to have paid in order to qualify for anything..
im so confused, so im sorry if this all sounds confusing.
i dont know what ill do if i get nothing, ill have to go striaght back to work right away but im having a c section (2nd) and i know how long it took me to recover first time round
thanks

If you've paid a year's worth of class 2s you'll be fine. Paying class 2s doesnt just make it easier, you HAVE to have paid them!

You can ring them and ask if you are up to date. They messed up my direct debit a few months before I went to claim MA and I just rang them and asked them to send me a bill for the bits they had failed to take from my account, they did, I paid it, and I got MA :)

this is what confuses me, i thought i would be paying ni weekly direct debit but i just got a bill in the post for the amount of £55 which i paid a few weeks ago, i had until end of july to pay it, but the other confusing thing is i got a letter this morning for a bill of £120 for national insurance which i also have until the end of july to pay, this letter for payment dates back to when i first became self employed, so i dont know why they are sending me it now.. will this affect my claim for MA and will the fact ive only paid £55 in total for NI have an effect? this all confuses me so much xx

Full guide here but so long as you've been paying class II NI or you've got a small earnings exemption certificate you'll be fine.

The amount of class II NI you pay depends on your income.

Basically so long as you meet the employment and earnigs rules as described in my link you'll be fine. You pick the 13 weeks so choose the ones where you earnt the most in the last 66 weeks and the average of those 13 weeks forms your earnings when calculating how much MA you'll get.

You claim it via Job Centre Plus and it pays for up to 39 weeks. Maternity Allowance pays a standard weekly rate of £135.45 or 90 per cent of your average gross weekly earnings (before tax), whichever is the smaller.

0845 9154515 - NI helpline for self assessment (8-8 Mon-Fri, 8-4 Sat)

ok thanks, i dont have a small earnings exemption certicate, ill just have to wait and see what they say i suppose, thanks for the advice x