HM Revenue & Customs is re‑examining around 23,500 Child Benefit suspensions after using Home Office international travel data to infer that some claimants had left the UK permanently. The department has apologised for any mistakes and asked customers who believe payments were stopped incorrectly to get in touch, following questions from MPs on the Treasury Committee.
Under the Child Benefit rules, short trips do not affect entitlement. Payments can, however, stop when a claimant is abroad for more than eight weeks unless specific exceptions apply, as set out in the Child Benefit (General) Regulations 2006 and HMRC guidance.
In August 2025 ministers expanded an anti‑fraud programme that matches HMRC records with Home Office travel data using powers in the Digital Economy Act. A Cabinet Office notice set a five‑year savings target of about £350m and described a pilot of 200,000 records in which 15 investigators prevented roughly £17m in incorrect payments.
Errors appear to have arisen where families left Northern Ireland by air but returned via Dublin and then drove home over the land border. There are no routine immigration controls on the Northern Ireland–Ireland border under the Common Travel Area, leaving no official record of the return journey and increasing the risk of a mistaken stop.
HMRC told the BBC it is now reviewing all past decisions using PAYE information to evidence continued UK employment, reinstating awards and making back payments where due. The department said it aims to complete the review by the end of next week, which would be by 15 November 2025.
One affected parent, Eve Craven, took a five‑day trip to New York with her son and received a letter 18 months later saying her Child Benefit had been stopped because HMRC had no record of her return. After providing evidence, her claim was reinstated and arrears were paid.
For claimants whose payments have halted unexpectedly, HMRC’s position is that they should contact the department. As the review prioritises PAYE checks to confirm ongoing UK residence, prompt engagement should help resolve straightforward cases and enable any backdating owed.
For administrators, this episode highlights the operational risk of relying on single‑source border movement data for entitlement decisions. The Cabinet Office has described the campaign as investigator‑led, but the review indicates verification-such as PAYE cross‑checks-should precede suspensions where Common Travel Area travel patterns are involved.
Policy Wire analysis: The review will test safeguards around cross‑government data matching and the balance between fraud control and administrative fairness. Treasury Committee scrutiny signals attention on decision thresholds, audit evidence and redress, particularly for border‑area families and short‑duration trips.