HUNDREDS of thousands of parents could have their child benefit payments stopped in hours if they don’t take action today.

August 31 marks the deadline for parents of 16-19-year-olds to extend their claim and if they don’t, their cash will be cancelled.

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Most parents in the UK can claim the benefit which can top-up their incomes by £1,000’s every year.

But parents with a 16-year-old who is continuing in full-time education need to let the Government know before the end of today or their child benefit payments will stop.

This is because payments automatically stop on August 31 on or after your child’s 16th birthday if they leave education or training.

If your child is going to continue in approved education or training, including doing A Levels or Scottish Highers, you can continue receiving the money.

Child benefit is worth £25.60 for your eldest child, and £16.95 for any subsequent children.

Over a year that adds up to £1,331.20 for the older child.

So, if your child has two further years of education – like if they’ve decided to do the International Baccalaureate or stay on for A Levels, that’s £2,662.40 in free cash that you could lose out on.

HMRC wrote to 1.5million parents between May and July this year to remind them of the deadline and that more than 522,000 parents have extended their claim so far.

Some families can also apply for a child benefit extension when their children’s education or training comes to an end.

Education must be full-time (more than an average of 12 hours a week of supervised study or course-related work experience) and can include:

• A Levels or similar, for example, Pre-U, International Baccalaureate
• T levels
• Scottish Highers
• NVQs and other vocational qualifications up to level 3
• Home education – if it started before your child turned 16 or after 16 if they have special needs
• Traineeships in England

Approved training should be unpaid and can include:

• In Wales: Foundation Apprenticeships, Traineeships or the Jobs Growth Wales+ scheme
• In Scotland: the No One Left Behind programme
• In Northern Ireland: PEACE IV Children and Young People 2.1, Training for Success or Skills for Life and Work

Some families can also apply for a child benefit extension when their children’s education or training comes to an end.

You could get child benefit for 20 weeks if your child leaves approved education or training and either:

• Registers with their local careers service, Connexions (or a similar organisation in Northern Ireland, the EU, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein)
• Signs up to join the armed forces

Households can apply for the extension at Gov.UK or by calling HMRC on 0300 200 3100 – we explain more below.

How do I extend my child benefit?

You can either update your Child Benefit records via GOV.UK. or return the 297b form that should have been sent to you by HMRC.

Legal guardians or parents who are adopting a child can also apply for the support as soon as the child comes to live with them.

To use the online service, you need a Government Gateway user ID and password.

If you do not have a user ID, you can create one when you use the service.

Once you have notified HMRC you won’t need to continue to update it – unless your child’s situation changes.

Instead, you will receive the payment until the end date of their course, or they reach the age of 20.

If your child enters work then you will stop receiving the benefit.

What is child benefit and who is eligible?

Child benefit is paid to parents to help with the costs of childcare.

Payments are usually made to you from the government every four weeks.

By claiming child benefit you also get National Insurance credits that count towards your state pension.

You normally qualify for child benefit if you live in the UK and are responsible for a child under 16.

But you can also claim the support for a child under 20 if they are in approved education or training.

When two or more people share the responsibility of caring for a child, it can only be claimed by one person.

You’ll be responsible for a child if you live with them or you are paying at least the same amount as child benefit towards looking after them.

This might mean you are paying the equivalent amount of child benefit on food, clothes or pocket money.

You should bear in mind, eligibility changes if a child goes into hospital or care and if your child starts to live with someone else.

Usually, you get child benefit for eight weeks after your child goes to live with a friend or relative – as long as they don’t make a claim.

But it can continue for longer if you make contributions to your child’s upkeep.

Foster parents can also claim child benefit, as long as the council is not paying anything towards their accommodation or maintenance.

Legal guardians or parents adopting a child can also apply for the benefit, but the child has to be living with them.

You will only be able to claim for a short period if you leave the UK, for example, if you go on holiday or for medical treatment.

For anyone not sure about eligibility, you can contact the Child Benefit Office.

Child benefit

Everything to know about child benefit:

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