HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has issued an urgent warning to thousands of parents to could lose thousands if they fail to act.
Parents have less than two weeks to tell HMRC their 16-19 year-old is continuing education or training, or their Child Benefit payments will stop.
Parents have until August 31 to extended their claim and keep receiving payment if they're entitled to it.
Child Benefit is worth up to £1,331 a year for the first or only child, and up to £881 a year for every additional child.
With hundreds of thousands teenagers getting their GCSE results on Thursday (August 22, 2024), HMRC are urging parents of 16-19-year-olds keep their claim details up to date.
If one's child is going to continue in approved education or training, parents can continue receiving Child Benefit and HMRC is urging them to extend their claim now.
More than 270,000 parents have extended their claim digitally so far
PAThose who don't extended their claim, will have their Child Benefit payments stopped in just two weeks time.
To make sure they do not miss out, parents can quickly and easily extend their Child Benefit claim online on GOV.UK or via the HMRC app.
More than 270,000 parents have extended their claim digitally so far, with the changes applied to their record without the need to wait on the phone.
Under Child Benefit rules, payments automatically stop on August 31 the year their child turns 16.
However, if their child is going to remain in full time education, full time training or they are joining the armed forces or a Government-sponsored careers programme, then they can continue claiming the money until they turn 20.
Child Benefit can continue to be paid for children who are studying full time in non-advanced education, which includes:
- A levels or Scottish Highers
- International Baccalaureate
- home education - if it started before their child turned 16, or after 16 if they have a statement of special educational needs and it was assessed by the local authority
- T levels
- NVQs, up to level 3.
Child Benefit will also continue for children studying on one of these unpaid approved training courses:
- in Wales: Foundation Apprenticeships, Traineeships or the Jobs Growth Wales+ scheme
- in Northern Ireland: PEACEPLUS Youth programme 3.2, Training for Success or Skills for Life and Work
- in Scotland: the No One Left Behind programme.
Myrtle Lloyd, HMRC’s director general for customer services, said: “Child Benefit is an important financial support for many households and we don’t want to see any eligible familymiss out.
"You can extend your claim quickly and easily online or via the HMRC app, just search ‘Child Benefit when your child turns 16’ on GOV.UK.”
Parents will need a Government Gateway user ID and password to use HMRC’s online services. If they do not have one already, they can register on GOV.UK and will just need their National Insurance number or postcode, and two forms of ID.
HMRC will usually send households a letter when their child turns 16 to understand their next steps. The tax office says these letters, which were sent 1.4million parents, should have arrived by July 17.
The letters will include a QR code which, when scanned, sends people to GOV.UK to update their claim. People can also reply to the letter in the post.
More than 7.65million households claim Child Benefit, according to the latest data. The weekly payment for Child Benefit currently stands at £25.60 for an eldest or only child and £16.95 for additional children.
Child Benefit is usually paid every four weeks on a Monday or Tuesday. Households can have the money paid weekly if they're a single parent or getting certain other benefits, such as Universal Credit.
Victoria Benson, CEO of Gingerbread, the charity for single parent families, said: "Child Benefit is valuable to families and particularly single parent families, who are forced to make ends meet on a single income.
“It's really important, with the 31 August deadline fast approaching, that parents whose children are going into further education and training extend their claim as soon as possible to avoid missing out on this crucial financial help.”
