Does anybody know how far back child benefit can be backdated under extenuating circumstaces?

[mowgeli]

My son was born prematurely and I am very sick still 17 months after he was born.
I didn't even know child benefit existed and thought it was only for families who didn't work?
Now that I have applied for it I'm wondering if there is anyone who has experience of how far the office is allowed to back date under extenuating circumstances please?

In the UK children usually start the term before their fifth birthday.

If you didn't realise you were entitled to it, your health issues are neither here nor there, as you wouldn't have realised even if you were perfectly healthy. If you knew about it and had been completely physically unable to apply for 17 months due to your health issues that might be different. It's unfortunate but that's life.

Do they not give the forms out in hospital anymore? Think with my first they gave me the form in the bounty pack then other kids are added on by phone.

Point taken ,sorry ,didn't realise that.

For you and your partner to apply to see if you are eligible to claim tax credits here www.gov.uk/claim-tax-credits

If you are married you can claim a tax reduction here www.gov.uk/married-couples-allowance

You need to register yourself, DH and children at NHS doctor and NHS dentist

If you are not working I suggest that you claim some other benefit eg PIP/JSA/Universal credit in your own name. This ensures that your National Insurance "stamp" is paid which should entitle you to a state pension in the future and other benefits (depending on how much your partner earns)
Someone may be able to advise you better about what I mean by this

Legally, there is a big difference between being married and living with a partner. Are you married ?

Some other parenting forums are suggesting apply for a baby passport.

www.gov.uk/get-a-child-passport

Get well soon

You can't claim a benefit like JSA/pip/dla just because you aren't working. They aren't automatic esp since the op has a husband who is working and a business.

I thought (could be wrong) that child benefit protects your stamp?

It does for a child under the age of 12.

Slightly o/t but the ni thing?

I work ft, and cb is in my name. Dh is currently a sahd. How would he get his ni paid? Would we have to transfer cb into his name? That would be a pita as we often swap over- i was a sahm for a couple of years too, and it may change again.

He is technically employed by his own company, but as he isn’t working he doesn’t have a salary and the company is all but dormant. So no ni paid. We could sack him i suppose but he still wouldn’t be eligible for jsa (which also pays stamp) as he’s not looking for work because of the kids.

So how does it work for a sahd? It assumes the mother is always the sahp. I’ve never really thought about that before.

Yes he would have to claim the child benefit to get the NI benefit

You only obtain protection of your National Insurance "stamp" if you claim the benefit (I guess)
That was what I was trying to emphasise, because OP has not claimed

I also mentioned pensions, because they are a long way off for OP, but she needs to be aware to plan for future

But you said claim pip/universal credit etc as if they were automatic and they aren't. The op would need to be eligible / entitled for the claim to succeed

If your child is under 12 and you’re not working or don’t earn enough to pay National Insurance contributions, Child Benefit can help you qualify forNational Insurance credits.

These credits count towards your State Pension. They protect it by making sure you don’t have gaps in your National Insurance record.

If live in UK you can individually check how much NI stamps you have and I think you can pay in extra for any missing ones

I think you can pay if you live abroad in certain countries too

This is only for a state pension, not for a private pension

It is called check your pension forecast

www.gov.uk/check-state-pension

If anyone needs to evaluate how they speak to people it's you, OP.

I find it hard to believe you have never heard of child benefit. Your parents would have got it for you, in Ireland, the exact same way your OH's parents would have got it for him. I'm neither British or live in the UK and I know what child benefit is, how it works and roughly how much it is there.

Not having heard of something literally everyone knows about is not an extenuating circumstance, and if you are as rude to the benefits people are you are on here you will be lucky if they help you at all.

Hi op,

Hope you are okay and managed to get it sorted. Just ignore some of the nasty comments on here.

Cheers to everyone for their rude comments.
I received child benefit today, back dated by three months. I'm glad I have signed up for it now.
Thank you to @what2dooooo you have made me feel better. I was merely asking.
My parents didn't get it as they earned over the cap and my husband didn't know about it because we didn't ask about it. I've not checked with his mom if she got it but I imagine she didn't either with income caps.

Also, I wasn't suggesting not knowing about it was my extenuating circumstance, it was the fact that I am ill.

My parents didn't get it as they earned over the cap

It wasn't earnings related until recently

The earnings cap was only brought in in the last few years and you can still claim it even if you earn over it (and then it gets paid back via a tax return). Before that it wasnt means tested and everyone got it

Well then they did not claim it.

Fuck sake ladies. Stop hen pecking.

For context we lived in England ireland and Switzerland and I do not recall £80 being important to them.

My circumstances are different to theirs and it is to me.

7th January 2013 was when the child benefit high income charge was brought in so it would not have affected your parents

Cool your jets!

I'm 25 so you are correct but we had been living in switzerland for 4 years.

Over and out

You said the other day that you were 23yo?