6 November 2025
HMRC - Child Benefit checks
In response to recent media coverage about Child Benefit checks, HMRC have provided the following update:
“We’re very sorry to those whose payments have been suspended incorrectly. Anyone affected should call the dedicated number on the letter we’ve sent them so we can confirm their eligibility and reinstate payments."
“We will no longer suspend any payments until we have checked with the recipient first, giving them a month to confirm if they are still eligible. This strikes the right balance between protecting taxpayers’ money and ensuring payments are only suspended when appropriate.”
Briefing:
• Having reviewed our processes, we will now be checking claims with customers first, by writing to them before suspending any payments, giving them one month to call us or write back.
• We are also streamlining the information we ask for from customers to prove their continuing eligibility, so they’re able to respond promptly.
• We have also re-introduced PAYE employment checks, meaning fewer people will be sent letters in the first place.
• We’re doing everything we can to ensure Child Benefit payments are only suspended when appropriate, and that any errors identified are rectified promptly, including resuming payments and making any backdated payments, so no-one is left out of pocket.
• Currently 23,489 letters have been issued. This means around 0.34% of Child Benefit claimants have had an enquiry opened and their payments suspended. We’re confident that the majority have been suspended correctly.
• Customers who have been sent one of these letters and who believe they are still eligible should call the number on the letter. We have now set up a dedicated team to handle their cases and a streamlined process for confirming their eligibility. These letters are not a scam.
• Child Benefit is paid to over 6.9 million families, supporting 11.9 million children. It is one of the most widely accessed forms of benefit in the UK.
• If a claimant is outside the UK for more than eight weeks, payments may stop unless there are exceptional circumstances.
• Our specialist team is using international travel data, where this shows that customers have left the UK and may not have returned.
• Claimants must inform HMRC if they are outside the UK for 8 weeks or longer.
• A successful pilot saw thousands of people who had left the UK but carried on claiming removed from the system - with around £17m in wrongful payments prevented.
• A new specialist team is continuing this work and is expected to stop around £350 million in Child Benefit fraud and error over the next five years. It’s crucial that we undertake this work to protect taxpayers’ money.