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
You haven't received your usual Child Benefit payment
If your usual Child Benefit payment doesn't turn up or isn't paid into your account when you expect it, there's a number of things you can do to check what's happened to it.
Why you may not have got your usual payment
You may not have got your Child Benefit payment because:
- We've sent your cheque to the wrong address. This may have happened if you've recently moved and forgotten to tell us your new address.
- Your bank, building society or Post Office® card account details have changed and you haven't told us.
- We've stopped your payment.
Bank holidays
If your payment is due on a bank holiday you will get this a little earlier than normal, usually the last working day before the bank holiday. It is worth checking to see if the payment has already been paid into your account.
Tracking down your payment
There may be a simple explanation of why you haven't got your payment. If your circumstances haven't changed you should double-check to see if the payment is now in your account. It may just be a bit late because electronic banking systems are sometimes not quite up to date.
If the payment's definitely not in your account, you'll need to contact us to see if we've made the payment and that we have the right account details for you. If we haven't made it, we'll tell you why not. If a payment hasn't been paid into your account, we will sort it out as soon as possible.
If we've issued a cheque and you haven't received it, we'll treat it as lost, stolen or not received. We'll also need to confirm your address.
You can check what’s happened to your payment by contacting us online, 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.
Send us an online query to check what's happened to your Child Benefit payment
If we've stopped your payments
It's also possible that we've stopped your payments. We may have done this because:
- letters we have sent you have been returned as undelivered and we don't know your new address
- you haven't replied to an enquiry or our reminders
- you haven't told us that your child is staying on in relevant education or training
Find out why your Child Benefit payments may have stopped or gone down
Child Benefit if your child is in further education or training
If we've made a mistake
We'll let you know if we've made a mistake and we'll put things right. If we decide to reissue the payment we'll either:
- pay it into your account, normally within four working days
- send you a cheque by first class post, which you should get the next day
Can you get a replacement payment?
If we've made the payment but it hasn't gone into your account, you'll only be able to get a replacement if the original payment has been returned.
Keeping us up to date
You must tell us about changes to your account details or address as soon as possible. If you don't, your Child Benefit payments may be delayed or stop altogether. When you get in touch, you'll need to tell us:
- your National Insurance number
- your child's full name
- your child's date of birth
Find out how to change your bank account details for Child Benefit payments
