Child Benefit
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I apply for child benefit one month ago, still waiting for money or letter or something. My baby was 2months when I applied. I know it can be backdated for up to 3 months.
My question is they will backdate for 3 months since the date I applied or 3 months since the day they write me an answer ?
Itll be backdated to when baby was born and it usually takes anywhere up to 6 weeks to get payment. If you dont get paid in the next week or two you need to phone up benefits and ask whats going on and see where ur money is.
Hi anda21. Usually the waiting period is 6 weeks for a decision to be made. However that is a generic statement by dwp, it is Usually alot faster. If you haven't received a payment or a decision then chase them up. If you are struggling financially they need to know so they can advance you a payment which then means your application gets dealt with a lot quicker. Ring them and find out how long it is before a decision is made.
I applied when my son was 6 week and it took about 2 weeks to hear back and got the payment about a week later. It was back dated to when he was born. If you haven't heard after more than 6 weeks then you should contact them to find out what's happening.
My baby was born in January. I applied 4 weeks later and started receiving payment another 4 weeks later. I was backdated right back to when he was born. How long has it been since you have applied? If it’s been more than the time stated on the application form then give them a call.
I wrote them on chat andthey told me ineed to wait 12 weeks and if i won't hear after 12 weeks i need tocontact them
I'm afraid its this pesky COVID thing . They are all working from home and taking much longer than normal to process things .
Noticed this on not only government sites , but also insurance and retailers sites .
Perhaps they maybe "can" work from home , but almost without exception they can't do it very well or very efficiently !
Devils advocate : Why are you having children if you can't afford them and rely on the state (the rest of us) to help you?
Hold on a min everyone gets child benefit when you work or not so why shouldn't people get it if that can??
tumblespots.... I find your comment quite offensive, this is a friendly site and comments such as yours are not appreciated. If you have an opinion that could be construed as offensive it's best you keep it to yourself. anda21 asked the chat community a question to garner some advice not demeaning criticism. We have had our activities curtailed due to covid, that makes it hard on some folks mentally and physically.....
Don't post a comment which you may feel will upset someone.
I apologise if my comments may have upset you but that was not my intention. Wishing all a very merry Christmas...
zai You have no idea what I think but it's good to know that no-one in this world is allowed to play devil's advocate, and it did say that...
tumblespots although you wrote devils advocate before stating your comment it does not take away from the comment of you presuming that because anda21 has claimed benefit that she was not working as you quite clearly stated... (" the rest of us"), "to help you". Has it slipped your notice that child benefit is also claimed by people who have been in employment and maybe on maternity leave. Thus having employment to get into when their leave is over. You have blatantly asked her a question and put your own opinion into it.
Obviously that was your thinking at the time, maybe you were having an off moment and you decided to be a bit condescending.
zai You don't know me or what I think, but you are doing a great job of trying to put words into my mouth.
tumblespots I had one child because I knew I could afford to have one child. I worked before he was born but had to be signed off due to complications in my pregnancy, which meant my maternity pay started early as I was deemed to be on maternity leave, so my wages practically disappeared overnight. I get child benefit, same as everyone else. When my son was born my husband had to take 9 months off work due to our sons complex health conditions, multiple appointments at different hospitals, some of which we had to travel over an hour too, cardiologist appointments, appointments with surgeons, appointments with dieticians. On top of that was the extra care that our son needed round the clock, the specialist medication that he had to take and then the recovery time from both of his life saving operations. During this time my maternity pay ended and my husband went down to half pay. The child benefit was a godsend those months as I knew I didn't need to worry about being able to afford his nappies, baby wipes, food etc. Sometimes there are circumstances outwith your control that affect your finances. I know you are playing devil's advocate but just because someone claims child benefit doesn't mean they can't afford to pay for their own child, maybe when they got pregnant they could afford it but Covid has affected their job or their maternity isn't as much as they expected. Whilst you are being devil's advocate, I fear you have offended a number of people.
tumblespots... In no way have I put words into your mouth. I am simply going by the content of your comment. It was uncalled for especially when it no way answered anda21 question. Just by saying devil's advocate doesn't make a comment right. You are quite right in saying that I don't know you or know what you think. In the same instance you don't know me or anda21, still the comment was uncalled for.
Now I don't want to sound rude,demeaning or condescending but in school we learn how the body works and how our brain and thinking process works and the messages sent in order for us to do things like type, walk,talk etc. Its all via our mainframe the brain and our thinking process and doing tasks etc is part and parcel of that thinking process which once again stems from the brain initially.
Morning everyone I am going to turn commenting off on this now as it’s getting a bit off topic. anda21 I believe there is a big backlog at the DWP with processing forms at the moment due to my families experiences too due to Covid-19 so as people have said, it will get backdated and if you’ve not heard within the 12 weeks then contact them again.
Thank you everyone 
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