Help with Child Benefit Claim

Stella66

My nephew came to live with me in May this year, he is 18 and in full time education. I made an application for child benefit for him in June, but up to now it has not been processed. I have been phoning the customer service about once a month to track the progress but lm always told it is still be considered and they will write to me if they need any information. I think this has taken long, and l probably need to make a formal complaint about it. Does any one know whether 6 months is a reasonable time to wait for a decision or where do l write to if l want to make a complaint. Please help, l think lm being unfairly treated.

Oldernotwiser

I can't help with your enquiry but just wanted to check that he's in non advanced education rather than in HE.

Stella66

He is doing an access to higher education course.

zappster1966

I assume someone was getting Child Benefit before he came to yours ? Has that person been in touch with Child Benefit to give up their claim ? If not, or if the dates they & you have given them conflict, it might account for the delay.

Oldernotwiser

Stella66 wrote: »

He is doing an access to higher education course.

Then you should be eligiblefor CB as Access courses aren't HE.

Oldernotwiser

zappster1966 wrote: »

I assume someone was getting Child Benefit before he came to yours ? Has that person been in touch with Child Benefit to give up their claim ? If not, or if the dates they & you have given them conflict, it might account for the delay.

Or, perhaps he's gone back into education after leaving for a while. This might also delay things.

Stella66

Yes somebody was claiming benefit for him. He left home in June 2007 after an argument with his dad, and went to live with a friend. I only got to know his mother (my sister) who lives abroad told me about this in May. I took him with me and sent him back to college. He has not been attending school or college since he left his father. I tried to talk to his dad, and resolve the issue but he wouldn't have him back and does not want me to keep him either. He will obviously will not co-operate if Child Benefit need to contact him. I have been living with my nephew since May and pay for his upkeep. He gets the EMA grant, which helps with his busfare to college. So how do l stand with getting the Child Benefit people to understand my situation?

Oldernotwiser

Stella66 wrote: »

Yes somebody was claiming benefit for him. He left home in June 2007 after an argument with his dad, and went to live with a friend. I only got to know his mother (my sister) who lives abroad told me about this in May. I took him with me and sent him back to college. He has not been attending school or college since he left his father. I tried to talk to his dad, and resolve the issue but he wouldn't have him back and does not want me to keep him either. He will obviously will not co-operate if Child Benefit need to contact him. I have been living with my nephew since May and pay for his upkeep. He gets the EMA grant, which helps with his busfare to college. So how do l stand with getting the Child Benefit people to understand my situation?

If "someone" was claiming for him but he wasn't in education then they may have been claiming fraudulently. Although you're not at fault in this, quite the opposite, this may be why your claim is being delayed. Presumably they're looking at father's claim after the son left education. I'm sure you'll get it backdated to September, but if there's fraud involved it may take a while, particularly if father isn't going to co-operate.

suelees1

It's far too long to wait and the length of time it's taken already is completely unreasonable. The delay might be for any number of reasons but even if it's because they've been deciding who should be the primary carer the specialist team should have resolved it by now.

Since responsibility for administering Child Benefit was transferrred from DWP to HMRC there are more and more delays. Speak to a manager there and also to your MP.

twoheadedboy

Currently Rival Claims (i.e. claims for a child currently or previously claimed for by someone else) are taking a minimum of 12 weeks to process. A lot of the time a delay will be due to the previous claimant not replying to correspondence issued to them (CBO legally has to contact the previous claimant to confirm details).

Unfortunately, the helpline are no longer able to arrange for the claims sections to call you regarding your claim, which is why you basically just get fobbed off when you ring. If you're unhappy at the length of time it's taking (if it's been 6 months, you should be unhappy) then your best option is to ring the helpline and ask to speak to a manager, once you get speaking to a manager state that you wish to make a formal complaint about the length of time you claim is taking to process. Hopefully you will then get a resolution pretty soon.

Oldernotwiser

suelees1 wrote: »

It's far too long to wait and the length of time it's taken already is completely unreasonable. The delay might be for any number of reasons but even if it's because they've been deciding who should be the primary carer the specialist team should have resolved it by now.

Since responsibility for administering Child Benefit was transferrred from DWP to HMRC there are more and more delays. Speak to a manager there and also to your MP.

But would the OP have been eligible for CB for him in June as he wasn't in education at the time and hadn't been for over a year. Surely she'll only be eligible since he went back into education in September?