Health Well

News

Child Benefit Changes: Are You Claiming?

Talking about our money matters helps us to build financial confidence, make better decisions around spending and saving, teach our children good lifetime money habits and leaves us feeling less stressed and more in control.

This year, we’re asking everyone to ‘Do One Thing’ to help improve your financial wellbeing. Why don’t you make claiming Child Benefit that one thing, if you haven’t done so already? You can also download the HMRC app to make a new claim or manage your existing claim quickly and easily.

So, what do you need to know?

There’s help for families with the cost of raising children. HMRC wants to make sure families are receiving all the support they are entitled to. Child Benefit can be claimed by anyone who’s responsible for a child under 16 (or up to 20 if they’re in approved, full-time education or training)

You can claim up to £1,331 a year for your first child - that adds up to over £20,000 by the time they’re 16. You can claim nearly £882 for any additional children you have, with no limit to how many children you can claim for.

Child Benefit gets paid into your bank account every four weeks. (It can be paid weekly in certain circumstances).

You can submit your claim for Child Benefit online from the day after the child’s birth is registered. Important: You can only backdate Child Benefit payments by three months, so make sure to claim as soon as possible so you don’t miss out. Claim online and you could even receive your first payment within just three days!

Things to keep in mind

If your or your partner’s income is over £60,000, you may have heard of the High Income Child Benefit Charge. Don't let this put you off – by claiming you can get National Insurance Credits towards a State Pension. You can opt out of payments when you claim, or receive them and pay the charge – the tax is 1% of Child Benefit for each £100 of income over the threshold, so if you earn between £60,000 and £80,000 it can still be worth your while financially to claim.

How do I make a claim?

Claiming is easy and can be done on gov.uk from the day after the child’s birth is registered. (Remember, it’s never too late: you can apply for them at any age up to 16, or 20 if they’re in approved, full-time education or training).

your child’s birth or adoption certificate
your bank or building society details
your National Insurance number
your partner’s National Insurance number, if you have one

You can claim by post or by phone too, but the process will be longer. If you don’t already have it, you can also download the HMRC app You can view and manage your Child Benefit claim and find lots of other services to manage your tax, National Insurance, tax credits and other benefits.

Have you claimed your Child Benefit?

You can claim over £1,331 a year for your first child and nearly £882 for any other children. Child Benefit can only be backdated 3 months. Don’t miss out - get your claim in as soon as possible.

Even if you or your partner’s income is over £60,000 a year, you should still claim online as you’ll earn National Insurance credits which can help protect your entitlement to a state pension and it can still be worth your while financially.

Child benefit: a reminder in a nutshell

Child Benefit is a non-means-benefit that is payable for each child until they are 16 or up to 20 if they are in education or training. Anyone can claim child benefit irrespective of what they earn.

However, you may have to pay a child benefit charge if you or your partner earn £60,000 or more annually. By claiming Child Benefit, you can get an allowance for each child - you’ll usually get it every four weeks.

Receiving child benefits also ensures national insurance credits, which count towards your State Pension, and a National Insurance number for your child without them having to apply for one - they’ll usually get the number shortly before they turn 16 years old.

To apply or for help and information, see MoneyHelper’s Child Benefit page.