If things go wrong with your Child Benefit claim
In this section:
- Problems with your Child Benefit - where to start
- How to complain to the Child Benefit Office
- Appealing against a Child Benefit decision
- You haven't received your usual Child Benefit payment
Appealing against a Child Benefit decision
If you're not happy with a Child Benefit decision we've made, you can ask us to explain how we made it. If you're still not happy, you may have the right to appeal. You'll normally have to appeal within one month of when we sent you our decision.
Before you appeal
Before you make an appeal, you can ask us for an explanation of our decision. If you're unhappy with our explanation, you can ask us to have another look at your case. If you still don't agree with our new decision, you can appeal.
Your right of appeal
You have the right to appeal against a decision made by HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) officers.
How do you know if you can appeal
The letter we send you will tell you if you can appeal against the decision. For example it may be a decision on:
- the date we've awarded your benefit from
- whether we consider you and your child live in the UK
Who can appeal
Usually the person who made the claim or who's been getting the Child Benefit makes the appeal. But if you've been appointed by someone, you may be able to appeal on their behalf. The decision letter will tell you if you can appeal for someone else. If you can, you'll need their written permission.
Deadline for appeals
Normally, you have to appeal within one month of when we sent you our decision. In special cases we'll give you more time but you must tell us your reason for making a late appeal.
We can't accept an appeal dated 13 months or more after we sent our decision.
How to appeal
If you decide you want to make an appeal you can:
- write to us
-
send us a completed form CH24A Appeal Form
You must say in your appeal letter or form what you think is wrong.
Who considers the appeal?
If we haven't already sent you an explanation of our decision, we'll do this when we get your appeal. If you're happy with the explanation you'll need to withdraw your appeal.
If you're still unhappy we'll send your appeal to an independent appeals tribunal, administered by the Appeals Service.
The appeals tribunal
The appeals tribunal looks at the evidence, law and circumstances when we made our decision. It can't:
- look at circumstances that happened after we made our decision
- change the law
- pay more money than the law allows
What happens next?
We'll send the appeals tribunal:
- your appeal
- an explanation of the law and facts we used to make our decision
- any other relevant papers
We'll send you:
- a copy of the appeals papers
- a form asking if you want a 'paper' or 'oral' hearing
Paper hearing
At a paper hearing, the tribunal makes their decision based on the papers they've got. Nobody else goes to the hearing and you won't be told when it is.
Oral hearing
At an oral hearing, the appeal is heard in front of the tribunal. You present your appeal and you can bring in more information if you need to. HMRC can also go to this hearing.
If you choose to have an oral hearing, you'll need to let the Appeals Service know straight away if you can't go to it. If you don't, the appeal may be heard without you.
If you live abroad
If you live abroad and choose an oral hearing, tell the Appeals Service if you want to either:
- go to the hearing
- send someone to represent you
The Appeals Service can then arrange for your hearing to be:
- near where you arrive in the UK
- near your representative
- delayed until you're in the UK
Expenses
The Appeals Service may pay some expenses, like travel costs. If you live abroad, you'll have to pay your fare to the UK. But you may get expenses when you're in the UK for the appeal.
The result of the appeal
You'll get a decision notice from the Appeals Service with a brief explanation of the tribunal's decision. You can also ask for a statement of reasons which gives a full explanation of the decision.
The tribunal may decide to:
- allow the appeal, and then we'll pay any money you're owed
- disallow the appeal
- have the appeal struck out, if you don't want to follow it up
If you're not happy with the tribunal's decision
If you don't agree with the decision, you may be able to appeal to the Social Security Commissioners. You're only able to appeal on a point of law. You'll need to have a statement of reasons to appeal.
You can apply to appeal within one month of when the statement of reasons was sent to you. You have to send the statement of reasons with your appeal. A tribunal member will decide if your appeal can be:
- sent to the Social Security Commissioners
- looked at again by another tribunal
Late appeals will only be accepted if you have a special reason.
If we're not happy with the tribunal's decision
If we're not happy with the decision, we'll appeal to the Social Security Commissioners. We'll write to tell you that until the appeal is decided we won't:
- act on the tribunal's decision
- make payments based on the tribunal's decision
If your circumstances change
If anything changes that could affect your payments, you must let us know straight away. Don't wait for the appeal hearing.
Find out which Child Benefit changes you need to report
Withdrawing your appeal
You might decide to withdraw your appeal because:
- you're happy with our explanation of the decision
- you agree with a new decision
- your circumstances changed and this affected your Child Benefit
You can withdraw your appeal at any time by:
- writing to us
- sending us a completed form CH29 - you can get this from the Child Benefit Office
Contacting the Child Benefit Office
If you need to contact us you can do it online by following the link below. Alternatively you can contact the Child Benefit Office Helpline on Tel 0845 302 1444 or textphone Tel 0845 302 1474. The Helpline is open between 8.00 am and 8.00 pm, seven days a week, except Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year's Day.
If your preferred language is Welsh you can call on Tel 0845 302 1489, and if you're calling from outside the UK Tel + 44 161 210 3086.
When you contact us you'll need to tell us your:
- full name
- Child Benefit number
- National Insurance number
- daytime phone number and if possible the best time you can be contacted
