Just realised I could have claimed 6 years worth of child benefit!!

[hmmm123]

I had no idea that this was available. I always thought it was for people on lower incomes or not working. Just been told you can claim it regardless of income ( although you of pay tax if either of you earn over 50k) dh earns just over this, I earn well beneath...

My dc is 6 and I have never claimed

I have just worked out that's about 6k down the drain😩😩😩😩😩

You can't claim retrospectively

What a plonker I am!

Yup you are

It also automatically gives NI credits to the parent claiming, which is useful for SAHPs.
I hope you've sorted your claim out for the future.

Did you never start a claim? Do it now if you haven't already

You can claim 3 months back payments. However if your dh earns 50k + what you gain may be reduced by the liability, it is fully repayable for salaries over 60k via a tax return.

And anyone can claim it. If a family member earns between £50-£60k then a proportion is paid back. It is all paid back over £60k or you can claim and opt out of payment to save doing that

I am very cross with myself! How come no- one tells you this stuff!!

We was told as I didn’t think we could. I think it was in the mass amount of paper we received from the midwife

I remember the bounty pack but I thought it was all advertising stuff and didn't read it properly

Yep, midwife gave me the claim forms as part of the official paperwork pack that was needed to take to the registrar to get the birth certificate. Completely different from the bounty pack which was given by a nurse on a different day.

Oh well must have overlooked that.. but we did register the birth!

Never mind it's only 6k 😩😩😩

You can claim 12m back payments so you have only lost £5k!!

If you are claiming for the first time it is only backdated 3 months

What a shame. It's about the only thing people on a higher income an claim along with childcare help. Until a few years ago people could claim it regardless of whatever income they earned , it was a universal benefit.

You are not the only one!
You can only claim back 3 months with a new claim. I claimed for my first two, then opted not go receive it because dh earned over 60k. His salary went down to just over 50 a couple of years ago but I've only just got round to requesting the payment again. I'll get 2 years backdated for the older two but nothing for the youngest dc as I never claimed in the first place. So yes, about 1.5k lost to me.
Grrr!!
Oh well just think about what a favour we are doing to public finances with our oversight.... a hospital/school/police service is happily spending that dosh.

Have you always lived in the UK because its been around since the war. I remember going to the Post Office to collect it with my mum

The forms should have been in the pack given when you gave birth
Its well publicised

Remember though if he does earn over 50k (not including pension deductions) he will need to do a self service tax return and then potentially pay some back. The fines are high if you dont do it

@hmmm123

I remember the bounty pack but I thought it was all advertising stuff and didn't read it properly

Yep the form is in the bounty pack!

I never got a bounty pack when I gave birth, and if I had I wouldn’t have opened it as I hate Bounty!

I applied for mine online so didn’t need a form.

Yes @Chathamhouserules that made me feel better. I will look at it as if I've gifted 6k to the nhs or social services.. ...hopefully not to have paid for the cock uo that is Brexit!!

Ha ha! God that is a depressing thought!

Do you not have any friends or relatives that have children? As a pp said, it's been around since we were kids (I'm in my 40s) and I've always known my parents saved outs to give to us later in life.

I'd be gutted about missing out on that much money.

@namechangedtoday15 yes of course but we don't talk money salary or benefits

They would have thought I was claiming it. I didn't even know it existed .. the conversation would not have arisen..,

Anyone no one to blame but me... hey ho!! Thinking of what we could have done with that extra money .. Dreams of nice holidays rather than a week in a tent last year ....,😩

Oh, it gets worse, camping . I have to say I'm really surprised that you didnt know about it - it was all over the news, newspapers, Martin Lewis et al, talk shows etc in 2012/13 when the £50k threshold came in because everyone was up in arms about how unfair it was.

If your DH is just over certain things get taken off like pension payments that he makes out of salary and childcare voucher payments so you may well still get full amount.

I hope you're claiming now! It's really important for getting your NI credits for your pension.

Hi, I'm possibly in the same boat, can someone help? Never claimed because dh has always earned over 60k since we had kids so when I looked into it it seemed we'd have to pay it all back. Gov website now says it's worth claiming for NI credits - can someone explain what these are? I've literally just left my job to be a SAHM for a bit. We don't claim any other benefits.