What is Maternity Allowance and can I claim it?

This is the safety net under Statutory Maternity Pay, and it catches far more people than most realise — anyone self-employed, anyone who changed jobs during the pregnancy, agency workers, and people with several small jobs. The qualifying test is deliberately looser than the SMP one: it looks across 66 weeks and it does not require continuous employment with a single employer.

Step by step

1. Establish first whether you can get Statutory Maternity Pay.If you can, you cannot also get Maternity Allowance. If your employer says you cannot, ask for form SMP1 — you need it to make the claim, and it explains why you were refused.
2. Check the 66-week test.You must have been employed or self-employed for at least 26 weeks out of the 66 weeks before the week the baby is due. The weeks do not have to be consecutive and can be with different employers or a mixture of employment and self-employment.
3. Check the earnings test.You must have earned above a small weekly threshold in at least 13 of those 66 weeks. You can choose the 13 best-paid weeks — they do not have to be together. The threshold is set by DWP and changes; the current figure is on GOV.UK.
4. Understand the self-employed position.Self-employed claimants are assessed on Class 2 National Insurance contributions. Where fewer contributions have been paid the award can be at a reduced rate, and paying voluntary Class 2 contributions can sometimes increase it. Ask Jobcentre Plus what your record supports before assuming the rate.
5. Know about the 14-week route.If you are not employed or self-employed but have helped, unpaid, in the business of your spouse or civil partner who is self-employed, you may qualify for a shorter award of 14 weeks. It is a genuinely obscure route and worth checking.
6. Claim on form MA1 from week 26.You can claim from the 26th week of pregnancy and the earliest it can start being paid is 11 weeks before the expected week of childbirth. Claim as soon as you can — a late claim can lose you money, and there is a limit on backdating.
7. Send the right evidence with it.The MATB1 maternity certificate, proof of income such as payslips or a Certificate of Small Earnings, and the SMP1 if an employer refused Statutory Maternity Pay. An incomplete claim is the main cause of delay.
8. Tell them about work during the award.You can use up to ten keeping-in-touch days without affecting the allowance. Working beyond that can reduce or stop it, so report changes rather than discovering an overpayment later.
9. Check the effect on other benefits.Maternity Allowance counts as income for Universal Credit and some other means-tested benefits, so the net gain can be smaller than the headline. It does, however, give you National Insurance credits.

Tips

• Choose your best-paid 13 weeks deliberately — they do not have to be consecutive and the choice can change the rate.
• Keep the SMP1 form. Every claim following an employer refusal needs it and chasing it later is slow.
• Check the effect on Universal Credit before you plan around the money, because it is treated as income.

Common mistakes

• Assuming self-employment means no maternity money at all — Maternity Allowance exists precisely for the self-employed, and a large number of people who would qualify never claim.
• Claiming late — Backdating is limited. A claim made after the baby arrives can lose weeks of payment that cannot be recovered.

If it doesn't work

Questions people ask