HALF a million people have been affected by delays to child benefit payments.
Around 30% of child benefit payments scheduled for Monday were not made – equating to around 500,000 people being affected.
HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) said it has fixed the problem and those affected will be paid on Wednesday morning.
An HMRC spokesperson said: “We are very sorry that some customers did not receive their scheduled child benefit payments as expected and we understand the concern and difficulty this may have caused.
“We have now fixed the problem and are putting measures in place to prevent this from happening again.
“Affected customers will now receive their payments on Wednesday morning (June 5).
“Anyone who has incurred a direct financial loss because of the delayed payment can apply for redress by completing our online complaints form.”
Child benefit is usually paid every four weeks on a Monday or a Tuesday.
Some people may receive the benefit weekly, for example if they are a single parent or receiving certain other benefits, such as universal credit.
Earlier on Monday HMRC had placed a statement on X, formerly Twitter, which said: “We’re sorry that some customers’ child benefit payments have not arrived as scheduled and we are working urgently to resolve the issue.
“There’s no need for customers to call us and we will provide updates here as soon as they are available.”
As of August 2023, 6.91 million families were in receipt of child benefit payments.
The weekly child benefit allowance is generally £25.60 for an eldest or only child and £16.95 per child for additional children.
People may be eligible for child benefit if they are responsible for a child under 16 and live in the UK.
The issue with payments was caused by a processing error.
HMRC has a complaints section on its website at www.gov.uk/government/organisations/hm-revenue-customs/contact/complain-about-hmrc.
