Parents with children born in these years have less than two weeks left to contact HMRC or risk missing out on benefits.
This week, GCSE results day will see millions of 15 and 16 year olds pick up their exam grades – now in numbers, not letters – and decide whether they want to continue in further education like college or sixth form, start an apprenticeship or get a job.
But parents of children born in 2008, 2007 or 2006 as well as 2005, ie with children aged between 16 and 19, must contact HMRC to extend their Child Benefit claim now or risk having their payments cancelled after August 31.
If your child is set to continue with education or training, such as AS/A Levels, you can continue getting the money – currently £102.40 per month for one child and roughly £170 for two children, increasing by roughly £67 per month for each additional child, with no limit on the total number of children you can claim for (unless you hit the Benefit Cap).
If you have two children both continuing with two more years of education, that’s £4,080 across two years.
Even for one child, that’s £102.40 for 24 months, or £2,457.60 in total you could claim. If they are aged 16 and go on to a three year course until they’re 19, that would be £3,686.40.
For two children doing a three year course, that’s £6,120.
But the extension of Child Benefit is not automatic and you have to claim it.
HMRC says it has written to 1.5 million parents between May and July to remind them that the deadline is looming at the end of August and so far more than 500,000 parents have extended theirs – meaning roughly 1 million parents are still missing out.
HMRC says: “You get Child Benefit if you’re responsible for bringing up a child who is under 16 or under 20 if they stay in approved education or training.
“Any Child Benefit payments you get will count towards the benefit cap. If you’re affected by the cap, you’ll still get the full amount for your Child Benefit payments but your other benefits may be reduced.”
The Benefit Cap means you cannot receive more than £423.46 per week in benefits for a couple, which would be difficult to reach from Child Benefit alone.
