'HMRC stopped my child benefit after going on holiday'

Ellen and Kevin Edwards with their son

Families say they felt they were treated like criminals when child benefit payments were wrongly stopped after going on holiday abroad due to errors.

Ellen and Kevin Edwards, from Walsall Wood, in the West Midlands, are among more than 23,000 families targeted since a government crackdown in September.

Their payments were stopped last month after being told their son had not returned from a holiday. That was despite his passport being stamped on leaving Cyprus and scanned on return to Britain.

Their benefits have since been reinstated. HM Revenue & Customs has apologised to those incorrectly targeted and said decisions could now be challenged before payments were stopped.

"I felt like a criminal, they accused me of not bringing my child back into the country," Ms Edwards said.

"I had no warning that they were stopping child benefit. I'm a British citizen who has never lived abroad and surely there would be a welfare issue if I had left my child in Cyprus?

"I was being accused of not bringing my child back into the country and then I was accused of having money for a child that I hadn't got."

Ellen and Kevin Edwards' son's passport was stamped on entry and exit in Cyprus

HMRC began a large-scale crackdown on child benefit fraud in September after a trial involving a small team saw £17m saved over less than 12 months.

The new system allows HMRC records to be compared with Home Office international travel data.

Claimants who are outside the UK for more than eight weeks will generally not be eligible for child benefit unless there are exceptional circumstances.

However, the Edwards' holiday lasted just a week. Their passports were stamped on entry and exit at Lanarka International Airport in Cyprus and scanned through the e-gate system on returning to Britain in early May.

Five months later, their child benefit payments were suspended and they received a letter to that effect, but even that contained errors, Mrs Edwards said.

"The first letter I had was incorrect, they were asking for data from December 2024, which is before we went on holiday.

"They were asking for evidence of our finances, which is not relevant to my child going on holiday

"My bank statements up to September 2024 have no relevance for us going on a family holiday for seven days in Cyprus."

Mr Edwards added: "You can't get through to anyone on the phone - when you do they don't believe you."

An HMRC trial involving 15 investigators has since been expanded to include more than 200 staff

The Edwards family are not the only ones to be affected.

Nicola Gorton, from Oldbury, also received a letter saying she was being investigated for child benefit fraud, following a holiday, and that her payments had been stopped.

"I've lost out on roughly £172 for my two children, I'm incredibly angry with HMRC," she said.

"What's laughable is that only a few months ago they sent me a letter because my oldest is 16 and they wanted to check he was in full time education - so they know my children are still in this country."

Like the Edwards, Ms Gorton's payments have since been restored.

Nicola Gorton sad she was angry that HMRC stopped the payment without investigating first

In a lengthy statement, HMRC said it was sorry to those whose payments had been suspended incorrectly.

It said 23,489 letters had so far been issued and that they were confident "the majority [of payments] have been suspended correctly".

However, it said following a review it would now be checking claims with customers first, by writing to them, before suspending any payments - giving them one month to challenge the decision.

A spokesperson said this struck the right balance "between protecting taxpayers' money and ensuring payments are only suspended when appropriate".

HMRC added that it had reintroduced PAYE employment checks, meaning fewer people would be sent letters in the first place.

It said a dedicated team had now been set up to handle disputes and processes had been streamlined to make it easier for people to confirm they remain eligible for child benefit payments.

It added that child benefit was paid to more than 6.9 million families, supporting 11.9 million children, and that those receiving letters accounted for 0.34% of all those claiming the benefit.

However, HMRC urged anyone receiving a letter to not treat it as a scam and to contact its teams if they thought there was an error.