AN EASY child benefit mistake could see parents missing out on £2,600 a year.
Families that are eligible for the payment can’t just assume the money will arrive in their bank accounts.
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Child benefit is worth £21.80 a week for your first child and £14.45 a week for any additional children.
For a family with three children that’s around £2,600 a year.
And these rates are set to rise by 10.1% from April
An easy mistake that parents make is thinking that they’ll get the cash automatically.
When in fact you do have to claim for it – forgetting to do so could result in losing out on £2,600 every year.
You can claim child benefit if you’re responsible for a child who is under 16 or under 20 and in approved education or training.
Only one person in the household can get the benefit, but there is no limit to how many children you can claim for.
That means that you could miss out on even more every year if you have more than three kids.
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How do I get child benefit?
Child benefit is usually paid every four weeks on a Monday or Tuesday.
But you can have the money paid weekly if you’re a single parent or getting certain other benefits like Income Support.
You can get the money paid into any account, apart from a Nationwide cashbuilder account in someone else’s name.
You need to apply for child benefit which you can do online through gov.uk.
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 one of the parents stays home to look after a child, it’s important that the right parent claims the cash, otherwise it can affect your National Insurance Contributions (NICs).
Finance experts at Hargreaves Lansdown have warned that putting the wrong parents name down could result in a £5,500 of lost income.
In order to avoid this the parent who stays at home should put their name down to claim Child Benefit.
There are other benefits you might get on top of child benefit if you’re on a low income, like the child element of Universal Credit.
Who is eligible to claim child benefit?
You will usually qualify for child benefit if you live in the UK and you’re responsible for a child under 16.
The support can also be claimed for a child under 20 if they stay in approved education or training.
To be considered responsible for a child, you will live with them or you’re paying at least the same amount as child benefit rates to look after them – for example food, clothes or pocket money.
It’s important to note that eligibility changes if a child goes into hospital or care and if your child starts to live with someone else.
If you’re not sure about your eligibility you can contact the child benefit office.
You won’t be able to get the full amount of child benefit if you earn over £50,000 and you’ll get nothing at all if you earn over £60,000.
That’s because of something called the High Income Child Benefit Charge – but if it applies then it’s still worth claiming.
What is the High Income Child Benefit Charge?
If either parent is earning over £50,000 they have to pay the High Income Child Benefit tax charge.
This means you pay back 1% of your child benefit for every £100 of income over this amount.
Once you reach £60,000 of income you have to repay the full amount.
The reduction applies when just one parent or guardian earns more than the threshold, and not on combined household earnings.
Parents have been caught out by the complicated rules and extra charge and have been landed with bills for thousands of pounds.
It’s up to parents to notify HMRC if they are liable for the charge and they must file a self-assessment tax return to pay it.
Parents who do know about the charge could also end up missing out on cash.
They can decide to opt out of getting the benefit altogether to avoid having to pay money back. But they will miss out on National Insurance (NI) credits.
These fill gaps in NI contributions when not working count towards how much state pension you get in retirement.
