Mistakenly applied & received the Child benefit - how to redo it?

[JB007]

Have to blame ourselves on reading an outdated guidance so we thought she met one of exceptions criteria for receiving the claim.

What country is your wife from?

[pangbo161]

Thanks again JB007.

If your wife wasn't working, then Child Benefit would have given her a NI Credit towards a state pension, which she can't have either and that also needs to be sorted.

Can I clarify what you meant by 'my wife wasn't working' please?
Did you mean she's currently unemployed, or employed but on maternity leave? FYI - she was employed at that time but obviously she was on maternity leave.

Also, would you mind to share a little bit on how she can remove the NI credits please? We tried to login the Gov NI site to check the contributions, however the record for 2022 to 2023 isn't available yet. Her payslips showed that she hasn't been paying NI when she received the child benefit payments between Nov and early Dec last year.

What country is your wife from?

Hong Kong but holding British National (Overseas) passport. We thought she's part of the British family (i.e. me and our little one) which seemed to be part of the exception criteria.

[JB007]

Can I clarify what you meant by 'my wife wasn't working' please?
Did you mean she's currently unemployed, or employed but on maternity leave? FYI - she was employed at that time but obviously she was on maternity leave.

After I wrote that I realised that I should have put "not paying her Type 1 (PAYE) NI Contributions" instead. Some people work but don't earn enough to pay NI.

For a UK state pension:-
There are types of NI Contributions and types of NI Credits. Those who work and contribute to the UK, will pay taxes and an NI Contribution. Some welfare benefits will give a NI Credit towards a state pension and Child Benefit is one of those. I think CH gives a Type 3 NI Credit, which they can use towards a Qualifying Year for a UK State Pension.

Therefore if the stay at home parent doesn't pay NI Contributions AND IF they can have Public Funds, they should put the CB claim in their name for the NI Credit towards a UK State Pension. Even if their partner earns over the cap to be given any CB money, the stay at home parent should still claim CB in their name (IF they can have public funds) as they get the NI Credit towards a state pension; their partner will then likely have to give a Self Assessment to HMRC every year as they earn too much to have Child Benefit.

The NI Credit for CB is given until the youngest child in the CB claim is age 12. It used to be age 15, but the Welfare Reforms for those asking for Public Funds to keep their children (Universal Credit) expects both parents to work now, with the stay at home parent working full-time too by the time the child is age 12.

Also, would you mind to share a little bit on how she can remove the NI credits please? We tried to login the Gov NI site to check the contributions, however the record for 2022 to 2023 isn't available yet. Her payslips showed that she hasn't been paying NI when she received the child benefit payments between Nov and early Dec last year.

Child Benefit is managed by HMRC (as they can catch the people who earn too much to have CB money for their household and fine them if they haven't submitted a SE in time and take any CB money back) and the NI Contributions are also managed by HMRC. I would expect the CB staff to sort this when you repay the money you owe.

However, there is no money given from a NI Credit via Child Benefit, until they reach state pension age. And only then if they have the minimum Qualify Years for a UK state pension AND that year is used for a State pension. Under the rules atm, your only need 35 QYs for a full UK state pension and those that work will have more than that. Often people find they can make a State Pension Qualifying Year in a few weeks if they work, as they paid a lot of NO Contributions.

I can't find anything in the UKVI guidance on Public Funds for NI Credits and I assume that is because the Type of NI Credit form Child Benefit, doesn't give any Public Funds money until your wife is of SP age. You can check this yourself https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/public-funds

And those very few CB NI Credits might not even be needed for your wife's full UK state pension. It just might be easier to sort it out sooner rather than it becoming an issue when she reaches SP age (if she has to use those few NI Credits for a QY for a state pension).

What country is your wife from?

Hong Kong but holding British National (Overseas) passport. We thought she's part of the British family (i.e. me and our little one) which seemed to be part of the exception criteria.

Some countries have a reciprocal agreement so that those on NRPF can still claim Child Benefit, but Hong Kong is not one of those counties: as you can see from the link I have given to the UKVI Guidance.

We thought she's part of the British family (i.e. me and our little one) which seemed to be part of the exception criteria.

You could claim public funds when you were granted ILR, but your wife's NRPF on her visa meant she could not and it has been that way for decades. From reading that link above to the UKVI Guidance on public funds, it seems that those subject to immigration control (NRPF) could claim Child Benefit before October 1996.

Exception 5
Persons who were entitled to Child Benefit before October 1996 are not excluded from entitlement to Child Benefit because they are subject to immigration control.

HMRC has a very powerful computer system that stores a lot of information. They can sort out the small repayment, but you will have to find the member of staff that will do that. If you phone them, follow that conversation up with a signed for letter, confirming what was said in that conversation.

If you are short of time and HMRC are not being helpful, maybe write to to your MP and ask for their help? https://www.theyworkforyou.com/mp/

[pangbo161]

HMRC has a very powerful computer system that stores a lot of information. They can sort out the small repayment, but you will have to find the member of staff that will do that. If you phone them, follow that conversation up with a signed for letter, confirming what was said in that conversation.

After calling the CB hotline three times today, the last representative finally allowed us to repay the money. Unfortunately, it may take up to two weeks for the letter of repayment instructions to arrive, and we are concerned about running out of time. Unfortunately, there is no way to expedite the process as they cannot send the letter via email. As you suggested, we will need to send a follow-up letter urgently by post to confirm our conversation.

If you are short of time and HMRC are not being helpful, maybe write to to your MP and ask for their help? https://www.theyworkforyou.com/mp/

Thanks for this.