Maternity Allowance

What is it?

Maternity Allowance (MA) is payable to you, if you:

• are pregnant and have 11 weeks or less before the baby is due, or
• have recently given birth, and you can satisfy the basic qualifying conditions below.

Maternity Allowance is payable for a maximum of 39 weeks.  Please see download leaflet MA5 – A Guide to Maternity Allowance for more information.

Basic qualifying conditions

To qualify for MA you must:

• be pregnant or have recently given birth
• have stopped work
• have worked in at least 26 of the 66 weeks immediately before the expected week of childbirth (EWC), and
• have earnings from employment or self employment which, on average, amount to at least £30 a week for any 13 weeks in the 66 weeks immediately before the EWC.

Employees: If you are an employee, MA will be paid at the rate of 90% of average weekly earnings up to a maximum.  

Self employed: If you are self employed and have paid class 2 National Insurance contributions you will be treated as if the self employed rate for MA is 90% of your earnings for the weeks covered by those class 2 contributions.

If you are self employed and have a Small Earnings Exception Certificate, you will be treated as having earnings equal to the MA threshold that applies to the end of each week covered by the certificate.

You must be ordinarily resident in the Isle of Man at the time of the claim.

How much could I get and how am I paid?

See Benefits Rates for further information regarding how much an eligible individual can receive.

Payment can be made either directly into your bank or building society account every two weeks or by weekly cheque which you can cash at the Post Office.

How and when should I apply?

Use the claim form MA1 and return it to Maternity Allowance:

When returning the claim form please enclose the maternity certificate (MAT B1). The claim should be made in or after the 14th week before the EWC.

For further information on maternity benefits, please see leaflet MA5 - A Guide to Maternity Allowance.