Mumsnet Talk

DS is in year 6 and has applied for secondary school. Have just received letter asking for proof that we receive child benefit for DS1. HMGov's own website says they don't provide this www.direct.gov.uk/en/MoneyTaxAndBenefits/ChildBenefitandChildTrustFund/Childbenefits/Gettingstarted/ClaimingChildBenefit/DG_073779

and that LEAs should accept bank statements instead (which we have already supplied). You can send a letter proving you get child tax credits instead, but we don't claim tax credits. Have written stern letter to the private company that handles admissions. Has this happened to anyone else out there?

Yes, but about 5 years ago. We sent a host of other evidence instead. But doesn't "proof" just mean the last letter you received from them stating what you were entitled to?

That would be reasonable, but they state that letters have to be dated no later than December 2010, and we last had a letter from the Child Benefit people in August 2010. Which they have already seen as we used it when we moved there and needed to get DS and DD into primary...

Do you mean "earlier?"

I asked child benefit to send me a letter and they sent one which had my name, address, children and date of birth of the children. My problem was that it took 3 weeks to receive the letter.

The child benefit office will send a letter stating what you get for each child with a current date on it.

A lot of people had this problem back in October as the child benefit is currently frozen which means nobody is getting updated letters from the Benefits agency yet our council insist on having one of these letters for school admissions (oversubscribed schools here and lots of cheating / renting going on so they are very strict about proving where the child lives as well as where the parents live)

I've written and made a complaint. The numbers of people potentially abusing the system must be relatively small in my area (not exactly one people are fighting to get their kids into) and I resent having to jump through silly bureaucratic hoops and ignore govt advice!

Could you not actually just send them a copy of a bank statement (or multiple ones) showing up the Child Benefit credit to your account. think they will be savvy enough to understand that it is the CB payment as it has a reference number doesn't it?

Have you rung the child benefit agency? This must be a common problem if no one has updating letters.

gazzalw - the point is to prove the address rather than that you are the person receiving the benefit isn't it?

Yes, but bank statements normally have an address on them don't they????

arabica,
Can you confirm exactly why Waltham Forest LA are asking for this information at this time?