Child Benefit: Fraud and Maladministration
The question
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 14 January 2026 to Question 104272 on Child Benefit, how many and what proportion of the 1,109 cases due to (a) fraud, (b) claimant error and (c) official error.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson
Of the 23,794 Child Benefit enquires opened between August and October 2025 to confirm claimant’s residency status, 346 (1.5%) were issued to Northern Ireland claimants.
HMRC does not hold a breakdown of the categories of error and fraud for those customers that were found to be non-compliant.
As HMRC has explained, when issues were identified it took swift action to resolve the position for affected customers and HMRC has also strengthened the process and safeguards going forward for this exercise.
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