Self-employed and Maternity Allowance - can anyone help me?

[Laugs]

Hi,

I'm not on maternity leave for a while, but trying to get my head around the MA form in advance.

My potential problem is that currently I do not have 13 weeks' pay at £137 in order to ensure the maximum benefit. On the plus side, I still have 6 months in which to earn this, so should be ok.

I just need to know how they work it out. On the MA form it says to send in your payslips if you are employed, but doesn't mention what to do if you are self-employed. Does this mean they just assume you've earned this much because you've been paying NI contributions, or will they ask for invoices at a later date? I am worried because my invoices at the moment are for jobs done, not hours/ weeks worked, so if I have to change my invoicing system, I might need to squeeze in another 13 higher earning weeks before my due date. Does anyone know?

Thanks!

if you have been paying class 2 NI contributions you don't need to prove your earnings as a SE person. Will find link and try and remember to post it tomorrow - can't copy&paste on my phone!

If you go to the DWP website, search for Ni17a (title of the guidance doc) and go the Eligibility action under MA -for every week you have class 2 NI contribution you are treated as having sufficient income for the full amount to be paid.

Hth.

*section, not action

That's great news - quite a relief since work is very slow at the moment. Thanks very much curlyredhead!

yep just make sure class 2 NIs up to date and you will get the full amount. have just started ML and received confirmation getting full amount which has just gone up. self-employed just doesnt generally work on a week by week basis. i know i couldnt prove £137 for 13 weeks as get paid fees in lump sums at certain points during a job and can be doing a few at a time so sometimes no money will come in for weeks then a load of invoices are paid at once.