Martin Lewis confirms HMRC issuing £50 compensation to 577,000 parents after Child Benefit payment delay

More than half a million parents who were left short-changed due to a blunder by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) earlier this month, which saw them miss their regular Child Benefit payments, have started receiving £50 compensation.

On June 3, an HMRC mishap led to 577,000 parents nationwide experiencing a dip in their bank balances when nearly one-third of all recipients didn't receive their due payment. Money-saving expert Martin Lewis has today (June 25) confirmed that some people have begun to get letters about the compensation, although it remains unclear whether all those affected have been notified.

Those families who felt the pinch from the delayed Child Benefit can seek additional compensation for the inconvenience caused by HMRC's mistake. With the vast number of parents involved, HMRC could be looking at a hefty sum to cover the £50 goodwill gestures, the M.E.N reports.

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One social media user revealed they had received notice of the HMRC compensation, posting: "First example I've seen of Child Benefit delay compensation from HMRC, £50 to acknowledge the error and inconvenience, asking for evidence of any extra costs incurred to be reimbursed."

Commenting on the situation, Martin Lewis said he had seen a handful of similar letters, but not many. He said: "Interesting, not many coming in to me yet either. I'll RT to see if there are others."

HMRC's most recent data from August 2023 reveals that there were 6.91 million families receiving Child Benefit payments. At the time, HMRC acknowledged a "processing error" and stated they were working on it "urgently".

An HMRC spokesperson expressed regret over the situation, saying: "We are very sorry that some customers did not receive their scheduled Child Benefit payments as expected and we understand the concern and difficulty this may have caused."

They further added: "We have now fixed the problem and are putting measures in place to prevent this from happening again."