Hi Deb,
You should also be eligible to claim working tax credit - to claim WTC you DO NOT need to have children but have to be on a low income - it is worth contacting them to find out.
With regards to maternity payments - you should be eligible for Maternity allowance if not maternity pay - and will need to send MATB1 form off once you get it from midwife (around 25 weeks). If you are not eligible for Maternity allowance, you will receive Employment support allowance (new version of Incapacity benefit) which is payable for 2 weeks following the birth of your child. All the forms are available to download from the Direct Gov website.
The health in pregnancy grant is available from 25 weeks (although most health services now do this at 28 weeks antenatal) the midwife should give you a pre paid envelope to send it off and the money is normally in within a week (I know mine was!)
The Maternity sure start grant - which can only be claimed from 29 weeks (Dont get your midwife or GP to complete this BEFORE 29 weeks as DWP will reject this!) and to qualify you have to meet set criteria. Even if you work, it is worht applying, as if you dont ask you dont get. I know my midwife told me that one couple, who work, and get the Children Tax Credit also qualified for the £500, it is means tested, but the rules are more relaxed than they were when I had my last two children (12 years and 6 years ago)
With regards to Income support - there is a minimum which the government state you need to live on per week, if you are above this threashold then you will not qualify for income support. You should be eligible for Housing benefit (if you rent your house) but money from WTC is taken into account when applying for Housing Benefit. Also, if you have a sporadic income then this may make housing benefit very difficult to calculate (and could lead to an overpayment) . If you do qualify for income support (even if it is only 80p a week!) you will not pay any council tax at all - otherwise you will get a minimum of 25% off your bill (for being sole adult occupant)
Once the baby is born - you should be able to claim childrens tax credit (CTC) as this is given to parents who have children (but do not work over 16 hours).
With regards to coming out of work now, I would strongly suggest that you stick your job out as long as you can, to make sure you will be entitled to some sort of maternity pay (maternity pay or maternity allowance) if you are eligible for maternity allowance, this figure is NOT taken into account for council tax benefit or WTC calculations and is paid for upto 39 weeks. i would most definately apply for WTC as you may qualify (if you are over 25).
Not sure how much help all of this has been, but if you need any more advice let me know.
Jill, Kayleigh 12, Nico 6 and 29 week bump x
