Can I still claim child benefit if I move to the UK?

dark crystal

Hi there,

Have been looking online for the past while and can't really find a clear answer to this....

My partner and I are considering moving to the UK soon and I was just wondering if we can still claim Irish child benefit while we are living there., or would we need to claim UK child benefit, even though our children are Irish?
I'm sure I read something about EU citizens being able to continue claiming child benefit from the country they are from, if they move to another EU country, but, tbh, I can't make head nor tail of it!

Any help much appreciated.

mikemac

Yes you can

http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/social_welfare/social_welfare_payments/social_welfare_payments_to_families_and_children/child_benefit.html

I would think that you claim from the country you work in

Now UK benefit is far lower but the good news is

If the Family Benefit you get in the country your children are living is less than the Child Benefit payment here, your Irish Child Benefit payment will make up the difference.

Jarren

Payment for children in another EEA State:

The benefit is payable even if his/her children are habitually resident in another EEA State.The amount of Child Benefit payable by the Department of Social Protection will depend on whether there is entitlement to Family Benefits from another EEA State in respect of the same child(ren). The claim should be made in the country of work which contacts the other country to ensure that the full entitlement is received. If your family are residing abroad please state the relevant social security number on your claim form i.e. Polish Claimants must provide the NIP and PESEL Numbers of all family mambers.

http://www.welfare.ie/en/operationalguidelines/pages/childben.aspx

dark crystal

So basically, I make the child benefit claim in the UK and they then contact the Irish dept. of social protection to make up the difference - is that about right?

mikemac

Exactly

Expect lots of delays

dark crystal

feelingstressed wrote: »

Exactly

Expect lots of delays

Ah, I would expect nothing less

Thanks a mill.

snubbleste

dark crystal wrote: »

So basically, I make the child benefit claim in the UK and they then contact the Irish dept. of social protection to make up the difference - is that about right?

I disagree.
My reading of that is:
You apply to the country where you are working in, in your case, the UK. You will have no entitlement to Irish child benefit. Otherwise every family in Europe would be claiming Irish child benefit.

mikemac

edit, I think I may have gotten this wrong and I don't want to give misinformation

You'll definitly be entitled to UK child benefit anyway

snubbleste

But that is for people working in Ireland who have children living in a different country. It was brought in to facilitate the free movement of workers.

Say a Polish man moves to Ireland, has a wife and kids getting Polish child benefit back in Poland. He is eligible to apply for the Irish child benefit rate because he works here.

dark crystal

Ok, so I've just contacted the dept. and the lady there says, unless I'm paying tax in Ireland whilst living abroad, I won't be entitled to it.

If I am living, working and paying tax in the UK, I will need to claim there, as I'll no longer be entitled to Irish child benefit. No top-ups, I'm afraid!

Ah well, at least it's cleared up now anyways!