Pregnancy Loss and Infant Death
We are very sorry if you are having to visit this page because you have lost your baby no matter what stage. It is important that you know what your rights are to so that you can ensure that you receive what you are entitled to.
If you feel like you need someone to talk to you can get further support from the following organisations:
Terminology
A miscarriage is the loss of a baby at any point before the end of the 24th week of pregnancy.
A stillbirth is when a baby is delivered after the 24th week of pregnancy but is not alive.
A neonatal death is when a baby is delivered alive at any point in your pregnancy but dies within the first 28 days of life.
What am I entitled to?
Miscarriage
If you have a miscarriage, you are not legally entitled to any maternity pay or leave. Your employer may provide compassionate leave and you could discuss other leave options such as annual leave or unpaid leave.
If you are not well enough to work following a miscarriage you are entitled to take time off sick leave. There is no limit to how long this time can be. Any absences related to either your pregnancy or your miscarriage are to be disregarded for purposes of disciplinary or redundancy purposes.
You may be entitled to sick pay as per your contract of employment which may be Statutory Sick Pay or Contractual or Enhanced Sick Pay. You would need to meet the eligibility criteria as for any other period of absence.
It is possible that the law may change in the future and this page will be updated if anything changes.
Stillbirth
If your baby is stillborn, you will be issued with a certificate of stillbirth.
You will be entitled to Maternity Pay and Leave that you would have qualified for.
Your partner will also be entitled to any parental leave if they meet the usual qualifying criteria.
If your maternity leave had not started when your baby was stillborn then your leave will the start the day after your baby was born.
It is up to you to decide how long you want to remain on Maternity Leave. Although you are entitled to 52 weeks, 39 of them paid, you do not have to take all of your leave. You should give 8 weeks’ notice to your employer that you wish to return to work but they may not require this much notice.
Neonatal Death
If your baby was born alive, at any point in your pregnancy, but then died in the first 28 days you are entitled to maternity leave and maternity pay, and you may also qualify for parental bereavement leave and pay.
You will be entitled to Maternity Pay and Leave that you would have qualified for.
Your partner will also be entitled to any parental leave if they meet the usual qualifying criteria.
If your maternity leave had not started when your baby was born, then your leave will the start the day after your baby was born.
It is up to you to decide how long you want to remain on Maternity Leave. Although you are entitled to 52 weeks, 39 of them paid, you do not have to take all of your leave. You should give 8 weeks’ notice to your employer that you wish to return to work but they may not require this much notice.
Statutory Parental Bereavement Leave and Pay
If your child is born stillborn after 24 weeks of pregnancy or your child dies and they are under the age of 18 you may be entitled to Statutory Parental Bereavement Leave and Pay. This is a right you acquire from your first day of employment – this is known as a day one right.
You can take 2 weeks of leave for each child who died or was stillborn. This can be 2 weeks together, 2 separate weeks of leave or only one week.
Leave can start on or after the date of death or stillbirth and must finish within 56 weeks of the date of death or stillbirth. For example, you could choose to take one week initially and then take another week on the anniversary of their death or their birthday.
If you were already on another type of statutory leave, such as maternity leave or paternity leave, your bereavement leave will start after the current leave type finishes. However, it does not have to start immediately after the first leave type ends but does still need to be taken within 56 weeks of the death or stillbirth of your child.
You could be paid £172.48 per week or 90% of your wages whilst you are on Statutory Bereavement Leave and it will be paid in the same way as your wages and subject to tax and National Insurance deductions.
Eligiblity
You will need to qualify both as a parent and as an employee.
Parental Eligibility
You were the child or baby’s parent – whether biological, adoptive or the parent of a child born to a surrogate, or you were the parent’s partner.
See here for more details about the different types of parenthood e.g. adoptive or surrogate.
Employee Eligibility
You must have been continuously employed with the same employer for 26 weeks up to the end of the week immediately before the death or stillbirth.
You also need to:
-Be employed up to the day of the death or stillbirth
-Earn at least £123 per week on average over an 8-week period
-Give your employer the correct notice and information – you can find more information here.
Appeal
HM Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS) are independent of HMRC.
Again, you have 1-month from the date of the mandatory reconsideration notice to submit your appeal. This cannot be done by phone but can be done totally online here or using the SSCS1 form which can be found here.
Your appeal may not be very different from the details you provided for the mandatory reconsideration. The mandatory reconsideration may provide additional information which you can refer to in the appeal.
As before, you should provide specific details about what you disagree with and why.
You will be given the option to have a hearing based on the papers or in person. An in-person hearing could take place over the phone, video or physically at a location such as a court. In person appeals are statistically more likely to succeed than paper appeals because the panel can ask questions and seek clarification and so where at all possible, we would advise you to choose an in-person appeal hearing.
Appeals take a lot longer than mandatory reconsiderations to be heard. At the moment in the West Midlands appeal wait times are about 6 months.
Telford and Wrekin Council Decisions
Use this guidance for
- Housing benefit
- Discretionary Housing Payment
- Council Tax Reduction and Support
Housing Benefit and Council Tax Reduction are administered by Telford & Wrekin council, and they have their own appeals processes although they are similar to those used by both the DWP and HMRC.
Housing Benefit
If you disagree with a decision made by Telford & Wrekin council about your Housing Benefit award you must do so in writing within one month of the date on the decision letter or award notice. You can ask for an explanation of the decision or award over the phone or in writing, but any challenge must be done so in writing.
Time Limit
You have 1 month from the date on the decision letter or award notice to challenge the decision. If you make a request after this you will be asked to provide a reason as to why you have not done so before. The absolute time limit is 13 months from the date of the decision letter or award notice.
Reasons
You will need to provide details about what you disagree with and why. It is not enough to just say you think the decision is wrong. It could be that the council have used an incorrect income figure to calculate your award and so you should send things like payslips or bank statements showing how much you have actually been paid.
How to challenge a decision
As mentioned, any challenge must be in writing. You can use a form found here to challenge the decision or you can write to the council with the details of your challenge to the following address:
Telford & Wrekin Council
Revenues and Benefits Service
PO Box 249
Telford
TF3 4LP
Appeal
If the council are unable to change their decision your case will be forwarded to HMCTS. The council will send your paperwork challenging the original decision plus their response to the tribunal.
You will be written to by HMCTS to ask if you would like to attend a hearing or if you would like the decision to be made on the papers provided.
In person appeals are statistically more likely to succeed than paper appeals because the panel can ask questions and seek clarification and so where at all possible, we would advise you to choose an in-person appeal hearing.
Council Tax Reduction
If you disagree with a decision made by Telford & Wrekin council about your council tax reduction you can request that the decision be looked at again at any time. There are no time limits for asking the council to change a decision about Council Tax Reduction.
Reasons
You will need to provide details about what you disagree with and why. It is not enough to just say you think the decision is wrong. It could be that the council have used an incorrect income figure to calculate your award and so you should send things like payslips or bank statements showing how much you have actually been paid.
How to challenge a decision
As mentioned, any challenge must be in writing. You can use a form found here to challenge the decision or you can write to the council with the details of your challenge to the following address:
Telford & Wrekin Council
Revenues and Benefits Service
PO Box 249
Telford
TF3 4LP
Appeal
If the council are unable to change their decision you can appeal to the Valuation Tribunal Service who are responsible for appeals of council tax decisions.
If you have not had a response from the council to your challenge within 2 months, you can proceed to the Valuation Tribunal Service without waiting for a response from the council.
You can find more information about the Valuation Tribunal Service and appealing council tax reduction decisions here.
HMRC Decisions
Use this guidance for:
- Statutory Maternity Pay
- Statutory Sick Pay
If your employer refuses to pay you a statutory benefit which you believe you are entitled to you can contact the HMRC for their Stautory Payments Dispute Team to make a decision. If you disagree with HMRC’s decision, you can appeal.
Asking for a decision from HMRC
You should contact the Statutory Payments Dispute Team on 0300 322 9422 or via textphone on 0300 200 3212 after you have tried to resolve this with your employer.
You may be asked to send further information to HMRC which may include medical documents.
A copy of HMRC’s decision will be sent to both you and your employer and if HMRC decide that your employer should pay you they will be given a time limit in which to do this.
Appealing a decision
If you or your employer disagree with the HMRC decision, there is a right of appeal. If your employer appeals, they do not have to pay you until a final decision is made. You need to appeal within 30 days of the HMRC decision.
You must appeal in writing, explaining why you disagree with the HMRC decision and send this with any supporting evidence to:
HMRC Statutory Payment Disputes Team
PT Operations
NE England
BX9 1AN
HMRC will ask if you want them to review their decision or go straight to a Tribunal. If you agree to have the decision reviewed by HMRC and you still disagree with their decision you can then appeal to Tribunal yourself. This needs to be done within 30 days of the review decision.