To All moms of kids uner 16, remember to contact the child support agency. I did unsuccessfully on a number of occassions via telephone, post and email and only just managed to get through to them to be told I now owe them £206, LOL!!!!

My mom told me that when we emigrated to South Africa in 1981, she got child support benefit for the first 6 months she was in SA! guess that is no longer the fact.

Jo x

I think if it's a temporary move they'll continue to pay child benefit for up to a year? Do try and cancel it before you leave the UK though, I'm sick of asking them to stop giving me money I'm no longer entitled to...

The rules around residency and payment of child Tax credits and Child benefit are quite complicated see here

If you are leaving without any intention of coming back it should stop as soon as you leave. I won't attempt to explain all of it as you can follow the link.

Know how you feel.

I told child benefit that I was leaving and gave them the dates etc - cancelled successfully

On the exactly the same day, told child tax credits, and I am still receiving payments.

I have given up telling them to cancel it, I feel like I'm hitting my head against a brick wall.

Raine

Hi

I enquired about this and according to the powers that be if you are out of the country for 6 weeks or more you must inform them. Basically they will stop the payments while you are not in the country.

Philip

Hooraaayyyyyy

Just spoken with them on this # 011 44 289 080 8313 and they have told me they will be sending out a letter and that my tax credits are now cancelled.

They did say that they may ask for the money back that I have already been paid, but I can dispute this as it is on their system that I did notify them that I was leaving on a certain date and they still continued to pay me.

Watch this space as they say.

Raine

The first year I got family tax credits - the pricely sum of £20 per month. The following year when I submitted my application my pay had gone up 2.5% during that time. They said I was entitled to nothing and had to pay back the full years' credit I was given. I did, the same way they gave it to me - £20 per month for a year

Good one

If they ask me for it back I will do exactly the same.

Raine

I have had exactly the same problem.....I told them we were going to Canada for a year. I then contacted them and told them we were not coming back....they continued to pay me. I have since contacted them 3-4 times and filled in all the damn forms, but still they pay me?????
The child benifit was no problem so why should it be any different with the child tax credits???

Linda