Thousands of families have been left reeling after the HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) suspended their child benefit payments based on data that flagged them as having left the country.
HMRC has apologised after around 23,500 payments were stopped when an anti-fraud operation was launched to catch claimants who might still be collecting benefits while living abroad. Under the rules, if you stay outside the UK for more than eight weeks your child benefit may be stopped
In many cases the “red flag” came from travel data; journeys logged as one-way, or a return not recorded. For example, some people who live in Northern Ireland and travel via Dublin airport were caught by the system, their return didn’t show up in the data, so HMRC assumed they had gone abroad.
Families were left facing mountains of paperwork amid abrupt stops to benefit payments.
Simon Pilbrow, from Staines-upon-Thames, was impacted by a five-day holiday to Vienna in 2023. Despite taking the holiday two years ago, he received a letter in October saying his Child Benefit would be stopped as there was no record of his return.
Simon told the thedetail: “I’m normally a pretty chilled person, but I was absolutely raging at having to prove that I live in my own country.
“I work at Tesco, which is the kind of job that you can’t really do working from Austria.”
HMRC issues statement after backlash
The tax body has since said that it would allow families a month to respond before instant cut-offs.
In a statement, a spokesperson for HMRC said: “We’re very sorry to those whose payments have been suspended incorrectly.
“We have taken immediate action to update the process, giving customers one month to respond before payments are suspended.
“We remain committed to protecting taxpayers’ money and are confident that the majority of suspensions are accurate.”
Child Benefit eight-week rule: what it actually means
Under HMRC’s rules, you can normally keep receiving child benefit while abroad for up to eight weeks, for example, during holidays or short family visits.
After that, payments are paused unless your absence falls under one of a few exceptions. You can still claim beyond eight weeks if:
- You or your partner are working abroad for the UK government or armed forces.
- You’re temporarily abroad for medical treatment.
- You’re studying or training in another country.
- Your child is with you but still considered “ordinarily resident” in the UK.
In these cases, HMRC may continue payments for longer, but you need to inform them in advance and provide documentation if asked.
Families who have received a suspension letter are being urged to contact HMRC directly via the number on the letter.
You may be asked to show evidence that you still live in the UK such as a recent utility bill, school attendance record, or bank statement.
HMRC says it is now reinstating payments where mistakes have been made and will change its system to give claimants at least a month’s notice before stopping benefits in future.
