HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has issued a public apology after incorrectly suspending child benefit payments for thousands of families across the United Kingdom. The tax authority confirmed it is reviewing 23,500 suspended payments following a crackdown that wrongly identified many claimants as having emigrated.
Immediate changes to the suspension process
In response to the widespread errors, HMRC stated it has taken immediate action to update its procedures. The new process will now give claimants a full month to respond to any queries before their payments are suspended. A spokesperson for the department said: "We’re very sorry to those whose payments have been suspended incorrectly."
The spokesperson added that while they remain committed to protecting taxpayers' money from fraud and error, they are confident that the majority of suspensions are accurate. The apology comes after a pilot scheme, which HMRC said in August had saved £17 million in wrongful payments over 12 months, led to legitimate claimants being caught up in the system.
How the errors affected families
The problems arose as officials began using PAYE data to check eligibility, with some individuals being incorrectly flagged as having left the country. This issue was highlighted by cases like that of Eve Craven, who took a five-day holiday to New York with her son.
Eighteen months after her return, Ms Craven received a letter stating her child benefit had been stopped. The letter referenced her trip to New York City, claiming HMRC had no record of her return to the UK. She was given one month to provide evidence to prove she lived in the country.
Ms Craven told the BBC's Money Box programme: "It's just a very big ask for something that they've messed up on, and they should have been able to sort out themselves."
Political scrutiny and safeguards
The errors have drawn political scrutiny. Dame Meg Hillier, chairwoman of the Treasury Select Committee, previously questioned HMRC on how many people had seen payments incorrectly withheld. She specifically asked what safeguards were in place to prevent individuals who did not board booked flights from being incorrectly deemed to have emigrated.
The Labour Party government's tax authority is now working through the affected cases. This incident underscores the challenges faced when implementing anti-fraud measures, balancing the need to protect public funds with ensuring vital support reaches eligible families without unnecessary disruption.
