Thousands of people living overseas will soon lose their child benefit as the UK Government intensifies its clampdown on wrongful claims.
Current rules state that anyone who leaves the UK for more than eight weeks is no longer eligible for child benefit, except in limited circumstances. However, officials say many continue to claim it incorrectly, costing the taxpayer millions each year.
Following a successful trial, ministers have announced a major expansion of a specialist unit that cross-checks international travel records with child benefit claims. The trial involved just 15 investigators who identified 2,600 ineligible claimants abroad, saving an estimated £17 million over the past year.
The team will now grow to over 200 investigators. According to the Cabinet Office, this expansion could see tens of thousands of people lose access to the benefit, with projected savings of around £350 million over the next five years.
Cabinet Office minister Georgia Gould said: “From September, we’ll have 10 times as many investigators saving hundreds of millions of pounds of taxpayers’ money. If you’re claiming benefits you’re not entitled to, your time is up.”
Child benefit remains the UK’s most widely accessed payment, supporting 11.9 million children across 6.9 million families. But with wrongful payments and fraud estimated to have cost £9.5 billion in the year to March, ministers have made tackling overpayments a central part of their cost-cutting agenda.
The Government is also progressing the Public Authorities (Fraud, Error and Recovery) Bill through Parliament. Billed as the “biggest ever crackdown on fraud against the public purse”, the legislation includes new powers enabling direct recovery of funds from fraudsters’ bank accounts.
