Family finances
- Family finances
- Sure Start Maternity Grant
11/7/08 21:11
11/7/08 14:32
i applied for the grant as i am on the higher child tax i have 1 child already, i got a letter back saying rejected, so i phoned to ask why. person 1 told me theyd made a mistake and theyd phone me back later that day. they didnt phone back, person 2 told me there was no record of me anywhwere and all she could do was put it in a pile to be reassessed. so i wasnt happy i phoned again. person 3 called sue at the preston branch was totally rude and obnoxious to me and really spoke to me like something shed stepped in and told me id have to write an appeal letter she didnt even look at my file. im 37 weeks pregnant and had used £20 credit to phone i took a couple of hours to calm down and decided i wasnt happy so i phoned again and asked for the manager, to who i made a complaint about the b*** to, he told me to fill in a new form so now i have to chase a midwife to sign it all again. ive found getting this grant one of the most stressful times. has anybody else had any problems with these people or getting this grant. sorry its been a long rant.
11/7/08 12:55
does anyone know when i could apply for this, i'm 18 weeks preganant at the moment, do i have to wait until i'm further on? also, how do i apply, do i need a form, or can i apply online?11/7/08 12:54
does anyone know when i could apply for this, i'm 18 weeks preganant at the moment, do i have to wait until i'm further on? also, how do i apply, do i need a form, or can i apply online?4/7/08 22:30
depends how you look at it i suppose....me and hubby both work full time, and yet we earn less than £30,000 a year. if working these hours we earned £40,00 or above etc then we would be blooming ecstatic.
4/7/08 19:10
hi sarah..i no what you mean...the cost of living is going up rapidly!people need to be earning 70 grand a year to be able to live these days...the ssmg SHOULD be a one off payment for everyone....you no we all struggle to live wether your rich or poor but it really annoys me when its mainly the poor that get hand outs!....as i said im a sahm my oh works all hours godsends and pays alot of tax! cant wait to see if conservatives get in things may hopefully change then.x
3/7/08 23:58
why set the limit at £60,000? why shouldnt it be available to people who earn over £60,000 as well?
3/7/08 21:23
Prettygirl, i am the same, i have applied for benefit as unemployed but got told i couldnt have any. Therefore no grant
makes me mad as the £500 really would have helped. Will still try after lo is born to get the grant but it looks doubtful.It should be available to everyone whose joint income is less than 60,000 a year as everyone has bills to pay and mouths to feed.
We are having to give up my car for a few months in order to save any sort of cash for the baby (dp is using moped), i will have to buy another car near the due date as i will need it with 3 dogs and a baby. 3 dogs without a car is hard enough when your preg and cant leadwalk them all
(hoping petrol will have come back down to a reasonable price when i get my car but i doubt it!)
Sarah x
1/7/08 22:56
well i am on a low income so i can get it i put in the form a mnth ago and was told it will take 7-10 days till i recieve it havent heard anything, i ring every few days to check but keep getting told ring in a few days the thing is im 32weeks pregnant and even though this is my second so already have all the big stuff i havent bought anything for new baby yet as ive been waiting to use the grant
1/7/08 21:00
xmasbabyjones and pretty girl AGREE, with you totally on the ssmg.
1/7/08 19:58
this subject allways makes me angry....when i was pegnant i couldnt get the ssmg coz i wasnt on any form of benifits! i did apply but didnt qualify it makes me sooooo mad that who ever you are or whatever you do we should all be getting it as we all need a little help when a baby arrives!!
1/7/08 19:28
1/7/08 19:04
i think everyone should get it.
we missed out by about £10 and are certainly not on high salaries
£500 is a lot of money to miss out on
1/7/08 18:52
If this is your first baby you will need to wait until after the baby is born to try and apply for the maternity grant as you would not receive CTC until after - but the grant has to be applied for in the first 3 months, so make sure that you chase up the tax credits as some times they take ages to sort.
To all those who think it is unfair that some children get more from the government than others, i'm sorry that you miss out on it , but you are wrong - if you struggled on real low income like my family (dh works 40 hours week for 12.5k before tax and NI) then you would understand why!
1/7/08 10:57
madmommy, thats not true. if youreceive more than the baby element and minimum amount, it doesnt matter how many kids you have you will still be eligible for it. out income is £27,000 a year, but as we have 4 kids we get higher than basic amount, so we were eligible for it.
1/7/08 07:44
Plus im sure someone once told me that for people on the really low low imcomes, its a £1000, grant. not sure if this is right or not. Perhaps im confusing things with the Child Trust Fund voucher you get once baby is born. That is £500 per child on parents with low incomes, whereas £250 for those who are earning more.
I dont care but all children should be given the same amount regardless of what there parents are earning, in my opinion!
sorry to rant.
30/6/08 22:51
Hi, that's what a friend of mine did. both her and hubby work ft and they got declined when she first applied. she re applied when baby was 2 or 3 weeks old and were excepted?! this was baby #1 for them.
you can but try! I personlly think it's unfair in a way that if you receive benefits then you automatically get it but people who work get declined. we would get declined as both me and dh work but our out goings with ct, mortgage, childcare etc etc leave us with not much in the pot
it should be a grant for all or not at allrant over!
30/6/08 16:55
you can always try applying and if get refused then apply once baby is here u have up to 3 months once baby is born.
29/6/08 22:30
how do you find out if your are eligible for Child Tax Credit, at a higher rate than the family element??
I dont think we would qualify which is upsetting as the £500 would have come in really handy. We do earn less than 22K but are not on any benefit as of now. I expect we will be on standard CTC so no maternity grant
Sarah
29/6/08 22:02
To get the sure start maternity grant you need to get £1,095 or more a year CTC, for the baby you are claiming for.
So if you £1,095 or more but it includes a older child you will not get it.When your award comes through it list the amount for each child,so you will be able to see if you are awarded this amount for baby.
If you or partner get IS or JSA you will get the grant,so can claim 11 weeks before birth.If you work or parnter work, you will have to wait till baby is born and CTC are awarded.Then if its more then £1,095 you can the apply for the grant.
I hope that makes sense.
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Hi Lei
I am having problems with mine I took mine to our local jobcentre to send off as they had no envolopes anyway kept rining them and they told me their was a bk log then on the 3rd wk I rang them to be told it must not of arrived or it would be on system by now
so had to get another form and I sent this 1 recorded delivery on tuesday and have been trying to track it with royal mail but u have to leave it 5 days 
so I rang sure start place and they couldnt tell me said it will take a wk to get to their department but they have a 3 wk bk log its a joke baby will be here by time its sorted I only have 7 wks left.