Child Benefit - changes you need to report
In this section:
- Child Benefit - which changes you need to report
- How changes can affect your Child Benefit payments
- How to change your bank account details for Child Benefit payments
- Child Benefit if your child dies
- Child Benefit if one or both parents die
How changes can affect your Child Benefit payments
If you're getting Child Benefit your payments could be different or stop if there's a change in your - or your child's - circumstances. Some changes could mean your payments are delayed. Or you could get too much and have to pay some back. It's worth knowing how changes in your life could affect your Child Benefit payments.
Changes that may stop entitlement
In certain circumstances we'll stop paying Child Benefit. This may be because of:
- changes that affect you
- changes that affect your child
Changes that affect you
We may stop paying you Child Benefit if you:
- leave your family home and stop paying money for your child
- leave the UK permanently
- leave the UK temporarily for more than eight weeks - or more than 12 weeks because you or a member of your family is ill, or died
- stop making contributions - of at least as much as the current Child Benefit - for a child who doesn't live with you
- start getting paid by a local authority - or in Northern Ireland a Health and Social Services Board or Trust - for a child you're looking after
- have your immigration status changed by the Home Office
- or your partner starts paying social security contributions to
a
country outside the UK
Changes that affect your child - when your child is 16 or over
Your payments will stop if we stop treating your child as a 'qualifying young person'. This would include your child:
- leaving relevant education or training
- leaving relevant education or training and starts working 24 hours a week or more and they get or expect payment
- starting relevant education that is provided through work or relevant training provided by a contract of employment
- starting a training course that's not 'approved'
- starting an advanced education course leading to a qualification like a degree
- turning 20 years old - Child Benefit stops completely when your
child reaches 20
Find out more about what happens to Child Benefit if your child is 16 or over
You stop being responsible for your child
We may also stop paying Child Benefit if your child:
- hasn't been living with you for more than eight weeks
- leaves the UK permanently or for more than 52 weeks
- leaves the UK temporarily for more than 12 weeks
- starts getting benefits in their own right
Changes that mean you'll get more Child Benefit
You might get more Child Benefit, for example if you have a new baby or another child comes to live with you.
Changes that may delay your payments
We pay your Child Benefit payments directly into your bank, building society or Post Office® card account. It's very important to tell us if you change your account. Otherwise we will be sending your payments to the wrong place. There'll be a delay until you've told us about your new account.
You also need to tell us if you move. If we can't contact you at the address we've got for you your payments may stop until we know where you're living.
Changes that can affect how often you're paid
We usually pay Child Benefit every four weeks. But you can choose to have it paid weekly if:
- you're bringing up children on your own
- you or your partner are getting Income Support or Income-based Jobseeker's Allowance
- you're finding it difficult to manage or make ends meet
Changing from weekly to four-weekly payments
You can change to getting Child Benefit every four weeks at any time. If the reason you're getting weekly payments changes you must tell us. For example, you or your partner may stop getting Income Support. We'll change your payments to four weekly.
If you haven't reported a change - what happens?
It's easy to forget to tell us about changes that could affect the amount of Child Benefit you get. So you must get in touch with the Child Benefit Office as soon as there's a change in your or your child's life. If you have forgotten to tell us, it's best to do it straightaway. This way you'll be sure that you're getting the right amount of Child Benefit and you may not have to pay back any that you're not entitled to.
What will the Child Benefit Office do next?
After you've told us about any changes in your circumstances we'll decide if your Child Benefit will be affected. If the change you tell us about means that your Child Benefit will stop, we'll write and tell you. The letter will tell you when your payments will stop. It will also let you know what you can do next if you're unhappy with our decision to stop paying Child Benefit.
If you've been overpaid
We'll tell you if the change in your circumstances means that we've paid you too much Child Benefit. For example your child may have left home and we carried on making payments to you because we didn't know.
We may backdate the overpayment to when the change in your life happened. We'll generally get back any overpayment from you by reducing or stopping your regular Child Benefit payments until we've got back all the money we overpaid.
Get more information about Child Benefit overpayments
Contacting the Child Benefit Office
If you need to contact the Child Benefit Office you can contact us by following the online link below. Or you can call 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 are telephoning from outside the UK you can call on Tel + 44 161 210 3086.
If you prefer you can write to us at:
Child Benefit Office
PO Box 1
Newcastle-upon-Tyne
NE88 1AA
Send us your Child Benefit query online
More useful links
Child Benefit - which changes you need to report
