Child benefits explained: How much can you get and can you claim for more than two children?

RAISING children can be costly, but hard-up Brits can claim some benefits to help with these costs.

All parents on low-incomes are entitled to extra help.

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In some cases though, how much you get depends on how many children you have and for some benefits, the amount you receive is capped at two children. 

Under Universal Credit you can receive an extra £237.08 a month each for your first two children if they are born after April 6 2017.

You can’t claim for any more children though.

Two mums on Universal Credit recently lost their case to have this cap scrapped.

But you can receive Child Benefit without a cap and you could get up to £84.60 a month for your eldest plus another £56 for every other child you might have.

We explain what help is available to parents and whether your payments will be capped.

What is Child Benefit?

You can claim Child Benefit if you’re responsible for bringing up a child under the age of 16.

For your oldest child you can get £21.15 a week with the benefit.

Then any other children you have get £14 a week each.

The payment comes every four weeks and is paid directly into your bank account, but it can be paid weekly if you get Income Support or income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance or if you’re a single parent.

You’re also eligible if they’re aged under 20 and still in full-time education up to A level or equivalent, or on certain approved training courses. 

There are no specific age rules for the person making the claim so it’s open to all parents in need of the support.

To apply you can fill out an online form or call the Child Benefit Office on 0300 200 3100.

Is there a limit to how much I can claim?

You can receive Child Benefit for every child or young person who you are responsible for, even if other benefits that you receive like Universal Credit are limited by the two child limit.

So that means if you’re not limited to just two children that you can claim for.

Only one person can get the benefit for the child or children though so you’ll have to decide which parent will get it.

If your kids are separated between households though on a permanent basis, each parent can claim for each child they are fully responsible for.

What is the child element of Universal Credit?

Your Universal Credit will include a child element, eg an extra payment, if you are responsible for someone under 16.

If they were born after April 2017, you should usually receive £237.08 per child per month.

If your first or only child was born before that date you will be entitled to a slightly higher amount of £282.50 per month though. 

You get the additional element if you are a claimant of Universal Credit and meet the right criteria when it comes to the size of your family.

Can I claim for more than two children?

If you are a parent on Universal Credit and tax credits you’ll only be able to claim the extra cash in benefits if you have up to two children.

So for your third child and beyond you won’t be able to receive the extra cash help.

A cap on the benefits was introduced from 2017 meaning parents could get no support for a third child or any further children born after April of that year.

There are exceptions though, like having twins plus another child.

If your kids were born before 2017 and you receive the benefit then this doesn’t affect you either.

Do I have to pay it back?

You only have to pay Child Benefit back if you’re a higher income worker earning over £50k a year.

If that’s the case you’ll have to pay a portion of your Child Benefit back in extra Income Tax.

You still receive the full amount of money each month or each week but you will have to factor in these repayments.

You’ll need to fill in a Self-Assessment tax return so HMRC can calculate the extra amount that you’ll have to pay.

Once your income is over £60,000 you’ll loose all the extra cash to tax though.

The £20 a week boost to Universal Credit that many families have been claiming to help during Covid will end soon, despite calls to make it permanent.

But families on Universal Credit can still get help with childcare costs and energy bills when the £20 benefit uplift ends.

At the same time, nearly three million people are missing out on more than £900 in council tax support.

This post first appeared on thesun.co.uk