Crackdown on people wrongly claiming child benefit abroad
Summary
The UK government plans to stop people from claiming child benefits if they stay outside the country for more than eight weeks without special reasons. A team will use travel data to check if claimants are abroad and not entitled to the benefits, aiming to save £350 million over five years.Key Facts
- The government aims to prevent wrongful child benefit claims by those outside the UK for over eight weeks.
- A new team will track travel data to identify people claiming benefits while abroad.
- A pilot study stopped payments to 2,600 people and saved £17 million in under a year.
- Starting next month, more than 200 staff will work on identifying incorrect claims.
- The government expects to save £350 million over five years through this initiative.
- Child benefit is a widely used benefit in the UK, with over 6.9 million families receiving it.
- Fraud in benefit payments rose during the pandemic, which led to these efforts.
- Child benefit amounts to £26.05 per week for the eldest child and £17.25 for others.
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