When/how can I apply for UC to top up my maternity leave
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You can apply now and get everything sorted and verified, you won’t get anything until you go down onto the SMP standard rate, but you’ll just get £0 for the first few months, you stay on the system for 6 months getting £0 a month before they close your claim x
You can do your application now and then when your earnings fall low it will start paying you - it takes 6 weeks from date of application to get a payment xx
If you apply now say you are working then when you go on maternity leave tell them you’ve started maternity leave, then when baby is born, tell them when it was born xx
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Definitely apply now! I applied before my maternity started, which meant I was getting my payments when my money went down. Obviously you won’t get as much now as you will on maternity, but it means you don’t have to wait 5 weeks while getting low maternity pay.
I never claimed either until now. I did mine the week my maternity leave actually started as I was off with A/L for just over a month. My maternity started the day before baby was born. I didn’t get anything for the first two months as wages was too high but after that I did. I think you’d be able to do it now