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Hiya! So mat allowance is different to stat mat pay?? X
Hiya! I'm self employed and got maternity allowance rather than stat mat for the full 39 weeks, so about 9 months. I never earned enough to get a lot of mat pay so I had been paying voluntary class 2 national insurance so I was able to claim the highest amount despite not earning enough for it. It did take them a month or so of me calling over and over because I started claiming it right after the new tax year! So it was some confusion about whether I'd paid enough national insurance because I had literally just paid it and that info hadn't been passed from HMRC to DWP yet so it was trying to get them two to communicate, which was half the issue 🤣 I just made sure I did all my tax for the previous year ASAP and then kept calling until it came through and they backdated me what I was owed. If you haven't paid enough class 2 for mat allowance then you can call them and ask how much you'd need to pay to get the full whack. Not sure about stat mat but feel free to message if you need any help!
@Bronwyn yep! My partner works for DWP, and when I got pregnant I’d only just started my business, so was worried about not having maternity pay. Apparently it’s a bit of a secret loop hole. If you’re unemployed you can technically register as a company, pay £30 in national insurance and then be entitled to £5k in maternity allowance 😂 regardless as to what your company has earned x
So I don’t know if it’s the same where you are, I’m in Denbighshire, but look into maternity allowance. If youve paid £30 national insurance in a certain time frame you’re entitled to maternity allowance, which I think is a similar amount to statutory maternity pay.