Hundreds of thousands of parents who were not paid as scheduled on Monday were issued with benefits today, and advised that they may be able to apply online for recompense
HM Revenue and Customs has today belatedly issued an estimated half a million child benefit payments that did not go out as scheduled on Monday.
After widespread reports on Monday morning of citizens not receiving payments as expected, shortly before 10.30am HMRC posted online to say that it was “working urgently to resolve the issue”.
“There’s no need for customers to call us and we will provide updates here as soon as they are available,” the department added, in a tweet.
A further update shortly after 2pm said that the tax agency was “working to get payments out as quickly as possible to those people who were expecting their Child Benefit today but didn’t get it”, adding that “payments due on Tuesday will be made on time”.
In the meantime, many parents posted about the difficulties caused by the missed benefit payment, with some claiming they faced charges for becoming overdrawn or being unable to make scheduled payments of their own.
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At about 4.30pm on Monday, the Halifax bank announced that, having been made aware of the HMRC issues, it would ensure that “any overdraft charges on your accounts as a result of this delay will be refunded”.
“If you’re worried, or need some help, please get in touch,” it added.
An hour later HMRC announced that it had “fixed the problem” that had prevented payments – but that those impacted by the delay would have to wait to until Wednesday morning to receive their benefits. Affected citizens were also advised that they could use the department’s online complaints process if they believe they are entitled to be compensated for any losses incurred.
“We are very sorry some customers didn’t receive their scheduled Child Benefit payments as expected and we understand the concern and difficulty this may have caused,” HMRC said. “Anyone who has incurred a direct financial loss because of the delayed payment can apply for redress by completing our online complaints form.”
