How to Claim Maternity Allowance If You Are Self-Employed or Not Entitled to SMP (MA1) (2026/27)

This guide is general information, not advice.

This guide is for people having a baby who cannot get Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP) from an employer: the self-employed, employees who do not meet the SMP conditions, people who have recently stopped working, and people who do unpaid work in their spouse’s or civil partner’s business. Maternity Allowance is paid by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), not by an employer, so you claim it yourself.

At the end you will have a completed MA1 claim sent with the right evidence, know which rate you are heading for, and know what to do if you are self-employed and short of Class 2 contributions.

Before you start

Have these ready:

• Your Test Period dates. The MA1 form page defines the Test Period as the 66 weeks before the week you expect to have your baby, and links a Test Period calculator. The form asks about your work in that window.
• Proof of your due date: your MATB1 certificate, or a letter from your doctor or midwife on headed paper. You need this even if the baby has already been born.
• Original payslips as proof of income, if you have been employed.
• Your SMP1 form, if your employer refused you SMP.
• Your National Insurance number and bank details.
• If you are self-employed: the date you registered with HMRC, and a rough count of the weeks of Class 2 National Insurance you have paid in the Test Period.
• A desktop or laptop and a PDF reader, or a printer. The MA1 page says the form cannot be completed on a mobile phone or tablet, and will not save in a browser or in Preview on a Mac.

If you are an employee, ask your employer about SMP first. The SMP guide explains those conditions; if you fail them, your employer gives you form SMP1, which you send with this claim.

Step-by-step

1. Check which route you are on. GOV.UK’s eligibility page sets out two:

   • Up to 39 weeks if you have been employed, or registered as self-employed, for at least 26 weeks in the 66 weeks before your baby is due. If employed, you must have earned (or be classed as earning) £30 a week or more in at least 13 weeks; the weeks do not have to be together, and different jobs or gaps in work do not matter.
   • Up to 14 weeks if, for at least 26 of those 66 weeks, you did unpaid work for your spouse’s or civil partner’s business and were not employed or self-employed yourself. In the same 26 weeks your spouse or civil partner must have been registered as self-employed with HMRC and paying Class 2 National Insurance.

   The maternity entitlement calculator linked from that page checks this for you.

2. Wait until you are 26 weeks pregnant. GOV.UK says you can apply once you have been pregnant for 26 weeks. Payments can start any time between the 11th week before your baby is due and the day after the birth.

3. Get the MA1 form. Download it from the Maternity Allowance claim form page. You can print it and fill it in by hand, or fill it in on screen in a PDF reader and print it. If you cannot print, order a paper form from the same page (England, Scotland and Wales only). Jobcentre Plus can supply braille, large print or audio versions.

4. Fill in the Test Period section carefully. The form asks about your employment and self-employment in the 66 weeks. Use the Test Period table or calculator on the form page so your dates match DWP’s.

5. Attach the evidence. GOV.UK lists original payslips, proof of the due date, proof of birth if the baby has arrived (the doctor’s or midwife’s letter, the original birth certificate rather than a photocopy, or a MATB1 with the birth section completed), your SMP1 if SMP was refused, and, for the 14-week allowance, details of your partner’s business and the unpaid work you do for it.

6. Post it to the address printed on the form. GOV.UK tells you to send your claim to that address.

7. If you are self-employed and short of Class 2, pay the top-up when HMRC asks. GOV.UK says that after you apply, HMRC will contact you if you have paid for fewer than 13 weeks and tell you how many extra contributions you need. Class 2 is £3.65 a week in 2026/27. You may be paid the lower rate for a few weeks while the contributions are linked; your payments are then increased and backdated if necessary, which GOV.UK says can take several weeks.

Deadlines and what happens next

• Claim within 3 months of your Maternity Allowance start date to get the full amount you are entitled to.
• Decision: GOV.UK says you should get a decision within 20 working days. If you are eligible, you are sent a form confirming entitlement and asking you to confirm your last day of employment before leave.
• Payment: every 2 or 4 weeks, straight into your bank, building society or credit union account.
• How much: in 2026/27, GOV.UK and DWP’s benefit and pension rates 2026 to 2027 give the standard rate as £194.32 a week, the same figure as the SMP rate in the site’s tax ruleset. Employees and recent leavers get £194.32 or 90% of average weekly earnings, whichever is less, for up to 39 weeks. The self-employed get between £27 and £194.32 a week for up to 39 weeks depending on Class 2 paid. The spouse or civil partner route pays £27 a week for up to 14 weeks.
• Tax and National Insurance: Maternity Allowance is on GOV.UK’s list of tax-free state benefits. You get Class 1 National Insurance credits automatically while you receive it.
• Other benefits: Universal Credit is reduced by an amount equal to your Maternity Allowance, and Jobseeker’s Allowance stops. Report the award on your Universal Credit account.
• If you disagree: ask for a mandatory reconsideration.

Keeping in touch days. You can work up to 10 keeping in touch days without affecting your Maternity Allowance, but you must report each day you work for your employer. The change of circumstances page gives the helpline (0800 169 0283, Monday to Friday, 10am to 3pm) and the postal address. Report a return to work, a new job, becoming entitled to SMP, or a move abroad the same way; GOV.UK warns you may have to repay an overpayment and could face a £50 fine.

Northern Ireland. nidirect quotes the same weekly rates, and messages about a claim there come from the Department for Communities. It links its own MA1 form and sets out its own conditions for the 14-week route. Its evidence list adds a marriage certificate for that route and a stillbirth certificate where relevant, and it gives an average decision time of 35 working days.

Common mistakes

• Waiting for the baby to arrive before claiming. You can claim from 26 weeks pregnant, and a late claim can cost you money if it goes past 3 months from your start date.
• Sending photocopies. GOV.UK asks for original payslips and an original birth certificate.
• Forgetting the SMP1. If you were employed and refused SMP, DWP needs the SMP1 your employer gave you.
• Assuming a self-employed claim will be paid at the lower rate for good. It is not final: pay the Class 2 top-up HMRC asks for and the higher rate is backdated.
• Not reporting keeping in touch days. They are allowed, up to 10, but each one must be reported.

Worked example

These figures use the 2026/27 Maternity Allowance standard rate of £194.32 a week and Class 2 of £3.65 a week from the site’s tax ruleset, which match GOV.UK’s what you’ll get page. They are illustrations, not a prediction of your award.

An employee who changed jobs and does not qualify for SMP. Her average weekly earnings in the Test Period are £180. 90% of that is £162, which is less than £194.32, so she gets £162 a week. Over 39 weeks that is £6,318, tax-free.

A self-employed designer registered with HMRC throughout the 66 weeks but with no Class 2 paid. GOV.UK says she is entitled to £27 a week on those contributions. After she applies, HMRC tells her how many contributions she needs. Paying 13 weeks would cost 13 x £3.65 = £47.45, and GOV.UK says that, depending on how many she pays and the weeks they cover, she can get up to £194.32 a week for up to 39 weeks, backdated. At the full rate that is £7,578.48 over 39 weeks.

Related reading

• Statutory Maternity Pay 2026/27 guide - the employer-paid alternative and its qualifying conditions.
• Maternity pay calculator - weekly SMP and take-home during leave.
• Having a baby: the money guide - Child Benefit, childcare and the rest of the checklist.