Tens of thousands of parents had their child benefit halted by HMRC after travelling outside of the UK.
Some 23,489 claimants were sent letters from HMRC questioning their residency after spending time out of the country, an investigation by The Guardian found.
In many cases, the travel plans lasted only a few days. Among the people whose benefits were frozen was a woman who visited France for five days after her husband died there, a man who went on a five-day holiday with his son to Italy, and a family who went on a trip to Australia via Gatwick.
Under current rules, claimants of child benefit in most circumstances can go abroad for up to eight weeks before the benefit is stopped. In exceptional circumstances, like the death of a family member, or medical treatment, this can be extended to 12 weeks.
HMRC apologised to the families and admitted that it had sent letters to 0.5 per cent of the 6.9 million claimants and that payments had been suspended while it carried out inquiries. It said it believes in “the majority” of cases, the benefit was suspended correctly.
The tax authority added it was “urgently reviewing the current process and actively considering options.”
Child benefit is paid at two rates: £26.05 a week for the eldest or only child, plus £17.25 for any additional children. It is not affected by the two child benefit cap, which prevents families from claiming additional universal credit entitlement for more than two children.
Cerys, a music teacher, took her three children on a one-day trip to the Netherlands from John Lennon Airport in Liverpool. They left at 6am and returned the same night.
“It does feel like you are being punished for going away,” she told The Guardian. “Child benefit are now saying that there is no evidence of me returning with my family so I need to produce a ridiculous amount of evidence to prove that I have not been living in Amsterdam since February.”
The mother-of-three said she initially thought the HMRC letter was a scam, but now must provide the authority with original bank statements, letters from her children’s old and new schools, and GP records.
She said that she has universal credit records which show she is in the UK and recently moved from Liverpool to Newcastle. However, as that benefit is administered by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and not HMRC, it appears there was no cross-checking.
HMRC said: “While this affects a very small number of child benefit claimants, we are very sorry to those whose payments have been suspended incorrectly. They should respond to us as soon as possible so we can check their case, reinstate payments, and ensure no one is left out of pocket.
“We’ve already taken swift action to amend our approach, including checking employment data first before suspending payments.”
- This article previously stated that almost 35,000 families were sent letters by HMRC. The correct figure was 23,489.
