In this section:
- What is Child Benefit?
- Child Benefit – do you qualify?
- Child Benefit if you adopt or foster a child
- Child Benefit if your child is in care
- Child Benefit for children in hospital or residential care
- New arrivals to the UK and Child Benefit
- Child Benefit if you’re living or working abroad
- Child Benefit if your child lives with someone else
Child Benefit for children in hospital or residential care
If your child is ill or disabled and has to go into hospital or residential care in the UK or abroad you can still get Child Benefit for up to 84 days. If it’s longer than that, you or your partner will need to regularly spend some money on them to still qualify for Child Benefit.
What is 'residential care'?
This is accommodation provided by the local authority for your child because he or she has mental or physical disabilities. It can also be accommodation that the local authority has provided because your child’s health is likely to significantly suffer or get worse if accommodation isn’t provided.
It's not the same as when the local authority or the Health and Social Services Board care for a child who isn't ill or disabled. You can find out more about Child Benefit for children who are in care but who aren’t ill or disabled by following the link below.
Find further information about Child Benefit if your child is in care
What happens if your child goes into hospital or residential care
If your child goes into hospital or residential care for less than 84 days we'll carry on paying Child Benefit. If your child will be in hospital or residential care for more than 84 days you'll also be able to carry on getting Child Benefit providing you or your partner are still spending money on them regularly.
What can you spend the money on
The sort of things you might spend money on for your child could include:
- travelling to visit them
- pocket money
- clothes, sweets, toys or books
If your child didn't live with you before going into hospital or residential care
You can sometimes still get Child Benefit if your child didn't live with you before they went into hospital or residential care. But it depends on:
- the reasons why your child wasn’t living with you
- whether you’re still spending money on your child and it’s at least the amount of Child Benefit you get for them
It doesn't matter whether they're in hospital for more or less than 84 days.
Find out what the current Child Benefit rates are
If your child has two or more stays in hospital or residential care in a short period of time
Your child might have several stays in hospital or residential care, for example if they've got to go in for a series of treatments. If there are less than 28 days between each visit, add together all the days in hospital or residential care to work out how long the hospital stay is. For example, your child might:
- be in hospital for 80 days
- come back home for five days
- go back to hospital for seven days
Add together both stays in hospital - 80 days and seven days - to work out how long your child has been in hospital altogether - 87 days.
If your child gets medical treatment in hospital abroad
You may get Child Benefit if your child is temporarily abroad getting medical treatment in hospital. ‘Temporarily abroad’ means that when your child left the UK their time away wasn’t going to be for more than 52 weeks.
If the illness or disability started before your child left the UK
You'll carry on getting Child Benefit for up to 12 weeks if your child has gone abroad temporarily to get medical treatment for an illness, either mental or physical, or a disability which started before they left the UK. You can sometimes carry on getting Child Benefit after 12 weeks if your child is still getting treatment abroad, but you would need to come back to the UK to still qualify.
If your child becomes ill or disabled after they leave the UK
Your child might become ill or disabled after they leave the UK, for example during a holiday abroad. If they get treatment in a hospital abroad so their return to the UK is delayed, you'll carry on getting Child Benefit for up to 12 weeks.
Keeping the Child Benefit Office up to date
You must tell us if either:
- your child is in hospital or residential care for more than 84 days and you will not be regularly spending money on them
- you’re going abroad with your child and you are likely to be abroad for more than eight weeks
You can do this by sending us an online form using the link below.
You can also call the Child Benefit 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.
Tell us online about your child's stay in hospital
Tell us online about your child's stay abroad
More useful links
Get details about tax credits if you or a member of the family goes into hospital
