Child Benefit: Will it be affected by Child Tax Credit? What you need to know

Child Benefit will pay monthly payments which are dependent on the number of children being claimed for. Payments for Child Tax Credit will also depend on how many children are being claimed for but will also be affected by the context of the claim.

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The payments will change depending on if the claimant is making a new claim or if they’re already receiving Child Tax Credit.

While Child Tax Credit has been replaced by Universal Credit it still can be claimed, albeit under very specific circumstances.

The government state that a new claim can only be made if the claimant is:

• Getting the severe disability premium, or are entitled to it
• Gets or was entitled to the severe disability premium in previous month and they’re still eligible for it

Child Tax Credit rates can vary drastically but thousands of pounds can be received in a year.

Claimants may be worried about mixing claims for Child Benefit and Child Tax Credits.

Many benefits can be affected if the claimant is receiving multiple different types.

However, receiving Child Tax Credit will not affect the claimant’s Child Benefit if they’re also receiving that.

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There are few things that will affect a person’s eligibility for Child Benefit but there are a couple rules to note.

Only one person can receive the payment for a child so the parents will need to decide which among them will get it.

Children under 16 can be claimed for but it is possible to claim for children up until the age of 20 in certain circumstances.

There are only two things which severely impact eligibility rules and they are if the child goes into hospital/care or if they live away from the parents.

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Child Benefit can be received by people fostering a child so long as a local council is not paying anything towards their accommodation or maintenance.

It’s also possible to claim for adopted children, even before the adoption process is complete.

In some circumstances, it may even be possible to get the benefit if the claimant has an informal agreement to look after a friend or relative’s child.

The actual claiming process is also straightforward.

Parents can make a claim for Child Benefit as soon as the child’s birth has been registered.

This could be made difficult for new parents at the moment due to coronavirus but the government details that they will accept a claim even without a register occurring.

Child Benefit claims can take up to 12 weeks to process but they can be backdated by up to three months.

Changes in circumstance must be reported to the Child Benefit Office even if they may not affect the claim itself.

This can include changes to family life such as getting married or changes to the child’s life such as moving into training schemes.

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