MA advice please.........to be self enployed or to be an employee

[bibidodamama]

Any advice from anybody that has been in this situation would make my day.
I recently found out that i was pregnant after being made redundant in june. I was thinking of what to do next before i found out about the new baby and decided to set up alone. the thing is i am going to be 6 weeks short of qualifying for the Maternity allowance when the baby is born. Would it still be possible for me to go ahead with my plans to set up alone (im not likely to make much at first); or would i be better off just getting any job so i qualify for maternity allowance, and leave my plans till after the baby. Im unsure if you can be employed and self employed and claim MA

any advise please?

Thanks.

As far as I know if you are employed you claim SMP and if self employed you claim MA.

I managed to get best of both worlds as I went part time to one day a week in my job so can claim SMP but I am mainly self employed. Now when you are on mat leave if you are claiming MA you can't work over the 10 KIT days you are allowed but if you are claiming SMP you can do as much self employed work as you wanted without it affecting your SMP. So maybe that will help you decide?

Thanks Thandeka,

I don't think that i'll be able to claim SMP as i was made redundant from the company i worked for and the baby isn't due till April. It's hard trying to get the right balance as the business will provide me with a future when the baby arrives and beyond....but if i go and get a job in an office (for example) for two months then i should hopefully qualify for ma but would have limited prospects after the baby.....

oh balls so my advice doesnt work then. Bah stupid allowances- good luck with it all!

Not sure what you mean by 6 weeks short of qualifying for MA?

To get Maternity Allowance you must have been employed and/or self-employed for at least 26 weeks in your 66 week test period. The 26 weeks do not have to be in a row ...

So unless you only had the job you were made redundant from in June for a few months, you should be ok?

And it is not true that you can only get MA if you are self-employed, the rule is that you cannot get MA if you are eligible for SMP.

DWP guidance here.