NEARLY two hundred parents in Northern Ireland who had their child benefit payments wrongly suspended when they left the country and returned via the south have now had them reinstated.
The HMRC issued an apology this week after it came to light that hundreds of parents living in the North of Ireland who left the country and travelled home via southern Ireland had seen their child benefit payments suspended.
The issue arose due to a new UK government crackdown, where HMRC child benefit records are compared with Home Office’s international travel data, in a bid to flush out fraudulent claims.
However, the move exposed a flaw in the system which saw more than 100 families who left the North and returned via Dublin Airport mistakenly flagged as having moved abroad, failed to return and were fraudulently claiming benefits.
By October 17, the HMRC had sent enquiry letters to 346 customers from Northern Ireland confirming that their child benefits had been suspended.
“We’re very sorry to those whose payments have been suspended incorrectly,” a HMRC spokesperson told the Irish Post this week.
“We have now reinstated payments and closed enquires to 134 individuals, where cases have had employment checks completed and we have confirmed continuous employment,” the HMRC explained.
“We have also unsuspended payments for a further 46 cases, while we clarify the customers residency status,” they added.
“This is for customers where we can see that their exit from the UK was to the Republic of Ireland, meaning that their continuing eligibility to Child Benefit is far more likely.”
The HMRC has since reviewed their procedures and has confirmed that they “will no longer suspend any payments until we have checked with the recipient first, giving them a month to confirm if they are still eligible”.
“This strikes the right balance between protecting taxpayers’ money and ensuring payments are only suspended when appropriate,” they explained.
The UK tax authority will also now streamline the information they ask for in order to prove the benefit claimant’s eligibility, “so they’re able to respond promptly”, they confirmed.
“We’re doing everything we can to ensure Child Benefit payments are only suspended when appropriate, and that any errors identified are rectified promptly, including resuming payments and making any backdated payments, so no-one is left out of pocket,” they add.
The issue stretches further than Northern Ireland, with parents across the UK effected by the benefit payment blunder.
The HMRC has confirmed that 23,489 letters have been issued to families across the country stopping their payments.
“This means around 0.34% of child benefit claimants have had an enquiry opened and their payments suspended,” the HMRC explains.
“We’re confident that the majority have been suspended correctly,” they state, before adding “customers who have been sent one of these letters and who believe they are still eligible should call the number on the letter".
“We have now set up a dedicated team to handle their cases and a streamlined process for confirming their eligibility. These letters are not a scam.”
Currently the HMRC pays child benefit to over 6.9million families across the UK. Some 219,255 of those are based in Northern Ireland.
If a claimant is outside the UK for more than eight weeks, payments can be stopped unless there are exceptional circumstances.
The HMRC is now using international travel data to find any claimants who have left the UK and not returned but are continuing to collect the benefit.
“Claimants must inform HMRC if they are outside the UK for eight weeks or longer,” the HMRC explained.
“A successful pilot saw thousands of people who had left the UK but carried on claiming removed from the system - with around £17m in wrongful payments prevented,” they added.
“A new specialist team is continuing this work and is expected to stop around £350 million in Child Benefit fraud and error over the next five years.
“It’s crucial that we undertake this work to protect taxpayers’ money.”
They added: “For all UK claimants who have travelled to a destination other than ROI with no record of their return and the initial PAYE check does not show evidence of continuing UK employment, payments will be suspended while we clarify their residency status.”
"This applies to 166 enquiries already opened for claimants in Northern Ireland.
"Those who believe they are still eligible should call the number on the letter we’ve sent them, so we can check their eligibility and reinstate their claim."
See More: Child Benefits, HMRC, Payments, Suspended
