Good morning ladies, is there anyone that didn't qualify for SMP (statutory maternity pay) but was…

I had maternity allowance when I went on maternity leave with my son, he's only 18 months old so it wasn't that long ago. I can try and tell you anything you'd like to know if you want x

I've just applied for maternity allowance Hun xx

How long was it before you heard back from them? I'm going to apply as soon as I turn 26 weeks (june 2nd) and I officially start Mat leave June 27, I'll be 29+3. @hrbn2 how long ago did you apply? @briony1994

I applied a few weeks into my maternity leave and heard back from them within a couple of weeks. I wrote down the date that I started my maternity leave on the form so the first payment I received included the back payment for the few weeks that I hadn't been paid for. So don't worry too much if they take a bit longer to get back to you because they will give you any money that you should have been paid whilst they were processing your application x

I sent my form off yesterday, it's meant to take 2/3 weeks to come back xx

@briony1994, thanks x @hrbn2 I'm hoping because I'm applying before leave it'll be sorted by the time I apply. I get paid weekly at work & not enough to really save anything. What about tax credits? Do you know if it's affected? Sorry for the questions 🙈 just want to know OH and I will be ok x

I do receive working tax and child tax credits and we found that they were not affected because the maternity allowance is not considered benefits or anything else as it is a replacement for smp x

I've applied, did my first lot of forms wrong so they sent me a letter saying I didn't qualify but rung them and corrected it, that was about a month ago, rung them yesterday and they had come to a decision but have to wait for the letter to come to find out when payments start! I put the day of my first maternity leave day was and they back date it till then! X

Ok great! 🎊 but do I need to inform them anyway? @hrbn2

Thank you @ellieee x

It is always important to inform them of any changes but it should not affect the tax credits that they are paying you x

Okie dokie, thanks for all your help ladies @hrbn2 @briony1994 @ellieee