GOV.

UK
1. Home (https://www.gov.uk/)
2. Childcare and parenting (https://www.gov.uk/browse/childcare-parenting)
3. Financial help if you have children (https://www.gov.uk/browse/childcare-parenting/financial-help-children)

Claim Child Benefit

1. Overview
You get Child Benefit if you’re responsible for one or more children under 16 (or under 20 if they stay in
approved education or training (https://www.gov.uk/child-benefit-16-19)). There’s no limit to how many children
you can claim for.

Only one person can get Child Benefit for a child.

You must report any change of circumstances (https://www.gov.uk/report-changes-child-benefit) to the Child Benefit
Office.

You may have to pay a tax charge (https://www.gov.uk/child-benefit-tax-charge/) if your (or your partner’s)
individual income is over £50,000.

You can choose not to get Child Benefit payments, but you should still fill in the claim form because:

it will help you get National Insurance credits (https://www.gov.uk/national-insurance-credits/overview) which

count towards your State Pension (https://www.gov.uk/state-pension)
it will ensure your child is registered to get a National Insurance number when they’re 16 years old

2. What you'll get

There are 2 Child Benefit rates.

Who the allowance is for Rate (weekly)

Eldest or only child £20.70

Additional children £13.70 per child

You must contact the Child Benefit Office (https://www.gov.uk/contact/hm-revenue-customs/child-benefit) if you’re

paid too much or too little.
 You could get Guardian’s Allowance (https://www.gov.uk/guardians-allowance) if you’re bringing up someone
else’s child because one or both parents have died. It’s paid on top of Child Benefit.

If families split or join together

If a family splits up, you get £20.70 a week for the eldest child who stays with you.

Example

If you have 2 children and one of them stays with you, you’ll get £20.70 a week for them. If your ex-partner
claims for the other child, they’ll get £20.70 a week for that child.

If you both claim for the same child, only one of you will get Child Benefit for them.

If 2 families join together, the eldest child in the new family qualifies for the £20.70 rate. If you’re entitled to
Child Benefit for any other children, you’ll get the £13.70 rate for each of them.

How and when Child Benefit is paid

Child Benefit is usually paid every 4 weeks (https://www.gov.uk/child-benefit-payment-dates) on a Monday or
Tuesday.

You can have the money paid weekly if you’re a single parent or getting certain other benefits, such as
Income Support.

You can get the money paid into any account (https://www.gov.uk/how-to-have-your-benefits-paid), apart from a
Nationwide cashbuilder account (sort code 070030) in someone else’s name.

You can only get the money paid into one account.

Incomes over £50,000

You may have to pay a tax charge if you (or your partner’s) individual income is over £50,000. This is known
as the ‘High Income Child Benefit Charge’ (https://www.gov.uk/child-benefit-tax-charge).

Use the Child Benefit tax calculator (https://www.gov.uk/child-benefit-tax-calculator) to estimate how much tax
you may have to pay.

The benefit cap

The benefit cap (https://www.gov.uk/benefit-cap) limits the amount of benefit that most people aged 16 to 64 can
get. Some individual benefits aren’t affected, but it may affect the total amount of benefit you get.

Child Benefit and your State Pension

If your child is under 12 and you’re not working or don’t earn enough to pay National Insurance
contributions, Child Benefit can help you qualify for National Insurance credits (https://www.gov.uk/national-
insurance-credits/overview).

These credits count towards your State Pension. They protect it by making sure you don’t have gaps in your
National Insurance record.

3. Eligibility
Only one person can get Child Benefit for a child.

You normally qualify for Child Benefit if you’re responsible for a child under 16 (or under 20 if they stay in
approved education or training (https://www.gov.uk/child-benefit-16-19)) and you live in the UK.

You’ll usually be responsible for a child if you live with them or you’re paying at least the same amount as
Child Benefit (or the equivalent in kind) towards looking after them.

Contributions can include:

money
clothes
birthday and Christmas presents
food
pocket money

Child Benefit continues for 20 weeks (https://www.gov.uk/child-benefit-16-19/child-benefit-extensions) if 16 or 17

year olds leave education or training and register with the armed services or a government-sponsored
careers service.

Eligibility rules are different if your child:

goes into hospital or care (https://www.gov.uk/child-benefit-for-children-in-hospital-or-care)

lives with someone else (https://www.gov.uk/child-benefit-child-lives-with-someone-else)

Adoptions and fostering

Apply for Child Benefit as soon as any child you’re adopting comes to live with you - you don’t have to wait
until the adoption process is complete.
The nationality of the child doesn’t affect whether you’re entitled to Child Benefit or not.

You might be able to get Child Benefit for a period before the adoption - contact the Child Benefit Office
(https://www.gov.uk/contact/hm-revenue-customs/child-benefit) to find out.

If you foster a child, you’ll get Child Benefit if the local council isn’t paying anything towards the child’s
accommodation or maintenance.

Looking after someone else’s child

You may be able to get Child Benefit if you’ve got an informal arrangement to look after a friend or relative’s
child.

You might not qualify if your local council is paying towards the child’s accommodation or maintenance -
contact the Child Benefit Office (https://www.gov.uk/contact/hm-revenue-customs/child-benefit) to find out.

Two people can’t get Child Benefit for the same child - if you want to make a claim, you must agree it with
the person who’s currently claiming. HMRC will decide who receives the Child Benefit if you can’t agree.

You may also be entitled to Guardian’s Allowance (https://www.gov.uk/guardians-allowance) if you’re responsible

for a child who has lost one or both of their parents.

Living abroad

You may be able to get Child Benefit if you go to live in certain countries or if you’re a Crown servant
(https://www.gov.uk/child-benefit-abroad).

If you’ve moved to the UK

You may be able to get Child Benefit if your main home is in the UK and you have permission to live in the
UK (https://www.gov.uk/child-benefit-move-to-uk).

If your child starts work or gets benefits in their own right

You’ll stop receiving Child Benefit immediately if your child:

starts paid work for 24 hours or more a week and is no longer in approved education or training
(https://www.gov.uk/child-benefit-16-19)
starts an apprenticeship in England (https://www.gov.uk/apprenticeships-guide/pay-and-holidays)
starts getting certain benefits in their own right, such as Income Support, Employment and Support
Allowance or tax credits

Child Benefit tax charge

You’ll still be eligible for Child Benefit even if you choose to stop receiving it (https://www.gov.uk/child-benefit-tax-
charge/stop-child-benefit) because you or your partner has an income over £50,000. Stopping your Child
Benefit payments does not affect your entitlement - you can always change your mind and restart them.

Contact the Child Benefit Office (https://www.gov.uk/contact/hm-revenue-customs/child-benefit) if you’re not

sure about your eligibility.

4. How to claim

Child Benefit claim form CH2

Fill in a Child Benefit claim form CH2 (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/child-benefit-claim-form-ch2) and
send it to the Child Benefit Office with your child’s original birth or adoption certificate.

Child Benefit Office (GB)

Washington
Newcastle upon Tyne
NE88 1ZD

When to claim
It can take up to 12 weeks to process a new Child Benefit claim (or longer if you’re new to the UK).

Claim Child Benefit as soon as your child is born or comes to live with you.

Child Benefit can be backdated for up to 3 months - make your claim as soon as possible.

If you don’t have the birth or adoption certificate, you should still send in your claim form - send the
certificate later on when you’ve got it.

You don’t need the birth or adoption certificate if you’ve claimed Child Benefit before and are making a new
claim for the same child.

You can order a new birth or adoption certificate (https://www.gov.uk/order-copy-birth-death-marriage-certificate)

if you’ve lost the original.

Claiming Child Benefit for someone else

You may be able to manage someone else’s Child Benefit claim (https://www.gov.uk/claim-child-benefit-behalf-
someone-else).
If you disagree with a decision

You can challenge a decision (https://www.gov.uk/mandatory-reconsideration) about your claim. This is called
asking for mandatory reconsideration.

5. Further information

Change in circumstances
You must report changes (https://www.gov.uk/report-changes-child-benefit) to the Child Benefit Office. These
include changes to:

your family life, for example getting married

your child’s life, for example leaving education or training

Complaints
You can complain (https://www.gov.uk/child-benefit-complaints) to the Child Benefit Office if you’re unhappy with
the way you’ve been treated.

Help

Contact the Child Benefit Office (https://www.gov.uk/contact/hm-revenue-customs/child-benefit) if you have any

questions.