Half a million people should be receiving their delayed Child Benefit payments today after an HMRC glitch earlier this week.
On Monday, the tax office - which is in charge of running Child Benefit - confirmed that a technical glitch meant 500,000 were not paid their benefit. HMRC said the issue had been resolved later in the day and that the delayed payments would be paid on Wednesday, June 5 instead.
In a post on X this morning, the tax office said the Child Benefit payments from Monday would be paid into bank accounts by 1pm today. The payment will have the reference of "HMRC Child Benefit" - so if you see this in your bank account, then your benefit has been paid successfully.
Those affected by the delayed payments have started to receive them. One parent said: "My Child Benefit, delayed from Monday, has thankfully reached my account this morning. Hoping it's the same for everyone else caught up in the HMRC mistake!" Another said: "Finally had my child benefit this morning x". A third said: "child benefit in today!!".
Around 6.9million households claim Child Benefits, which are usually paid every four weeks on a Monday or Tuesday. You can be paid weekly if you are a single parent and claim Universal Credit. Currently, Child Benefit is worth £25.60 a week for an eldest or only child and £16.95 a week for any other children.
Some Brits said Monday's glitch had further financial implications. Some shared that direct debit payments had bounced due to the money not being in their accounts, others were unable to top up their energy prepayment meters, and some fell into their overdrafts which meant they faced further charges.
HMRC has set up a redress scheme for anyone who has incurred a direct financial loss because of the delayed payment. You will need to make a note of any costs incurred and then complain using the online complaints form on the Government's website. Examples of charges could include a payment for a bill bouncing due to no Child Benefit being in your account. However, you can only claim redress after their delayed Child Benefit payment has been received. You can put in your redress claim here.
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 (5th June). Anyone who has incurred a direct financial loss because of the delayed payment can apply for redress by completing our online complaints form."