Problems with your Child Benefit - where to start

If you think something's gone wrong with your Child Benefit, there's plenty of support and advice available to help check what's happened and sort out any problems.

Can't find your claim form?

You can also get a claim form from the Child Benefit Helpline if:

you would prefer to fill in the claim form by hand, and not on screen
you have problems getting hold of a claim form for any reason
Contact details for the Child Benefit Helpline

If your preferred language is Welsh, you can print out a blank Child Benefit claim form in Welsh, and fill it in by hand.

Problems with your payments?

Sometimes you might not get a Child Benefit payment when you are expecting one. Or you might suddenly get less than you were expecting.

For example, perhaps you're:

expecting a payment into your account but it hasn't turned up
worried that a cheque has gone missing
still waiting for your first Child Benefit payment
wondering why your payments have gone down
confused about why your payments have stopped

If the Child Benefit Office normally make payments straight into your account, it could just be that it's not showing in there yet. Or it could be that they have got the wrong account details for you.

Maybe you are not sure when your next Child Benefit payment's due. If you are not sure, you can check the payment date online.

If you think the amount you are being paid is wrong

The amount of Child Benefit you'll get depends on:

the number of eligible children you're bringing up
the current Child Benefit rates

You don't get the same amount for each of your children. You get more for your eldest or only child than for any of your other children.

Check the current Child Benefit rates

If you have checked the current rates and you still think you're getting the wrong amount, please tell the Child Benefit Office as soon as possible. You can contact them online following the link below, or you can call the Child Benefit Helpline.

Let the Child Benefit Office know why you think the amount's wrong - perhaps your circumstances have changed for example. They will check everything and make sure you get the right amount as soon as possible.

Unhappy with a decision the Child Benefit Office has made?

If the Child Benefit Office has come to a decision you don't agree with, you should contact them. You need to do this within a month of the date on the letter they sent to you about their decision. You can ask the Child Benefit Office to:

explain how they reached the decision
check your claim again to make sure their decision was the right one

It's your right to get a proper explanation about a Child Benefit decision.

If the Child Benefit Office checks your claim, they will either change their decision if it was wrong, or leave their original decision as it is.

If you're still not happy, you can appeal against the decision. If you go ahead with an appeal, the Child Benefit Office will pass it on to an independent body to look at.

Find out how to appeal against a Child Benefit decision

Unhappy with the way your Child Benefit claim has been handled?

If you're unhappy about the way the Child Benefit Office has handled your Child Benefit claim you can complain. You can make a complaint to them by phone or in writing. They will do their best to deal with your complaint as quickly as they can.