Child benefit warning for 1million parents as key letter hits doormats – exact date you need to act or risk losing cash

MORE than one million parents claiming child benefit are being told to expect crucial letters in the post within days.

The benefit is paid to you if you are responsible for bringing up a child who is under 16 or under 20 and in “approved” education or training.

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Parents have to reapply for child benefit when their child finished secondary school[/caption]

It’s worth up to £1,331 a year for your first child and up to £881 a year for each additional child.

But it’s up to you to tell the Government if you want to carry on claiming it after your child turns 16 and is still in education.

HMRC has said it is sending 1.4million parents letters between May 24 and July 17 asking them if they want to reconfirm their claim for any children finishing their GCSEs this year.

The letters will come with a QR code which can be scanned and will redirect you to gov.uk to update your claim online.

You have to reconfirm your eligibility by August 31, otherwise your child benefit will be stopped.

Don’t worry if you haven’t receive a letter by July 17, as if you are eligible you can still extend your child benefit claim via gov.uk or the HMRC app without the need for a letter.

Myrtle Lloyd, director general for customer services at HMRC, said: “Child benefit is an important financial support for many families, so make sure you don’t miss out on any payments if your teenager intends to continue approved education or training.”

What is child benefit?

Child benefit is paid to parents to help cover the costs of childcare.

It is paid at two weekly rates – £25.60 for your eldest or only child and £16.95 for any additional children.

Payments are usually made every four weeks, on a Monday or Tuesday, but sometimes are made weekly.

If you are claiming child benefit for a child under 12, you also receive National Insurance (NI) credits.

NICs count towards your State Pension so claiming the benefit can be useful if you are missing any.

The reason NICs are so important is because you need 35 NIC years to receive a full new State Pension.

You are considered a parent, or responsible for a child, if you live with them and are paying at least the same amount as the Child Benefit rates to look after them – for example for 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.

Since 2013, if you, or your partner, earns over a certain amount, you also have to start paying some child benefit back.

Go over a second threshold and you have to pay it back in its entirety.

This is through what’s known as the High Income Child Benefit Charge (HICBC).

The threshold through which you have to start paying money back is now £60,000 after it rose from £50,000.

The rate at which you have to pay the entire allowance back is £80,000, which recently increased from £60,000.

It’s up to you to pay the charge though, and if you don’t you can be stung with a nasty bill.

How to apply for child benefit

You can make a claim for child benefit 48 hours after you’ve registered the birth of your child, or once they move in with you.

It can be backdated by up to three months if you don’t claim it straightaway.

Only one person can claim child benefit for a child, so you should think carefully about who might need to the most.

For example, if your partner is missing NICs, they should probably claim so they can top them up.

You can apply for child benefit on the Government’s website.

Do you have a money problem that needs sorting? Get in touch by emailing money-sm@news.co.uk.

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