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You haven't received your usual Child Benefit payment

There may be a simple reason why you haven't got your Child Benefit payment. Find out what you can do if your payment hasn't turned up or hasn't been paid into your bank account.

Why you may not have got your usual payment

You may not have got your Child Benefit payment because:

  • the Child Benefit Office sent your cheque to the wrong address - this may have happened if you've recently moved and forgotten to tell them your new address
  • your bank, building society or Post Office® card account details have changed and you haven't told the Child Benefit Office
  • the Child Benefit Office has stopped your payment

Payment over bank holidays

If your payment is due on a bank holiday you will get this a little earlier than normal, usually the last working day before the bank holiday.

It is worth checking to see if the payment has already been paid into your account.

Tracking down your payment

There may be a simple explanation of why you haven't got your payment. You should double-check to see if the payment is now in your account. Sometimes electronic banking systems aren't completely up to date. It's possible that your payment is in your account, but not showing on your statement just yet.

If the payment's not in your account, you'll need to contact the Child Benefit Office. They will check if they've made the payment and that they have the right account details for you. If they haven't paid you, they'll tell you why not and sort it out as soon as possible.

If the Child Benefit Office issued a cheque and you haven't received it, they'll treat it as lost, stolen or not received. They'll also need to confirm your address.

You can check what’s happened to your payment by contacting them online, following the link below.

Alternatively you can contact the Child Benefit Helpline

If the Child Benefit Office has stopped your payments

It's possible that the Child Benefit Office has stopped your payments.

For example, this could be because they can’t contact you, or you have not told them that your child is staying on in education or training that counts for Child Benefit.

If the Child Benefit Office has made a mistake

The Child Benefit Office will let you know if they've made a mistake and they'll put things right.

If they decide to reissue the payment they'll either:

  • pay it into your account within four working days
  • send you a cheque by first class post which you should get within five working days

Can you get a replacement payment?

If the payment hasn't gone into your account, you can only be able to get a replacement if the original payment has been returned.

Keeping the Child Benefit Office up to date

You must tell the Child Benefit Office about changes to your account details or address as soon as possible.

If you don't, your Child Benefit payments may be delayed or stop altogether.