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Getting Child Benefit on behalf of someone else

Getting Child Benefit on behalf of someone else

Very young parents and ill or disabled people with a child or children may find it difficult to make a claim for Child Benefit or collect their payments. You may be able to help them with this.

Getting Child Benefit on behalf of a very young parent

Making the claim

If you're the mother or father of a very young parent you can fill in the Child Benefit claim form for them. They'll still need to check the information and sign the form because they're making the claim in their own right.

If you're responsible for your grandchild you can make a claim for Child Benefit for that grandchild in your own right.

Collecting the payment

If your child has claimed Child Benefit in their own right you can arrange to collect the payment on their behalf. You can do this by:

Talking to your child's bank, building society or the Post Office®, if your child's got an account with one of these, to see what arrangements they can make.
Asking for the payment to be paid into a joint account but your child's name must also be on the account. Your child will need to confirm that the other account holders are using the money in the way your child wants. Your child confirms this on the Child Benefit claim form.

We can't pay Child Benefit into more than one account.

Getting Child Benefit on behalf of someone who's ill or disabled and can't manage their own affairs

You may be able to act on behalf of someone who can't manage their affairs because of:

illness
disability
other special needs

You'll need to become an official 'appointee' to act on their behalf.

Who can be an appointee?

An appointee can be:

an individual, for example a relative or friend
an organisation like a local authority
a receiver - someone the Court of Protection appoints to manage a person's financial affairs if they can't do so themselves

What can an appointee do?

As an appointee you've got the same rights and responsibilities as the person who's claiming the Child Benefit. This means you would:

complete the claim form
collect the benefit payment
deal with any correspondence
need to tell us about any changes in circumstances

How can you become an appointee?

If you want to become an appointee you'll need to fill in form BF56. You can get a copy of the form at the Jobcentre Plus (if you're in England, Wales or Scotland) or Jobs and Benefits Office (if you're in Northern Ireland).

Contact Jobcentre Plus on the Jobcentre Plus website

Find an A-Z of Jobs & Benefits Offices on the Department for Social Development website

Changing the appointee

If you don't want to act as appointee any longer you'll need to give us one month's notice in writing. Your appointment will end if in the meantime the Court of Protection has appointed a receiver.

You can write to:

Child Benefit Office
PO Box 1
Newcastle upon Tyne
NE88 1AA

Someone who's ill or disabled but can still manage their own affairs

If someone's ill or disabled but they can still manage their affairs, then it's not appropriate to have an appointee. But it may be possible for you to collect their Child Benefit for them if they have a bank, building society or Post Office® card account. Contact the bank, building society or Post Office ® to see how they can help you.

If you need further help

Contact the Child Benefit Office if you need any further help or advice. You can do this by sending us a query online using the link below or you can phone the Child Benefit Helpline on Tel 0845 302 1444 or textphone Tel 0845 302 1474. It's open between 8.00 am and 8.00 pm, seven days a week, except Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year's Day.

If your preferred language is Welsh you can call on Tel 0845 302 1489, and if you're calling from outside the UK Tel + 44 161 210 3086.

Send in your Child Benefit query online