Believing that she had emigrated when she had just taken a plane ticket, maternity benefits were cut: in the United Kingdom, the zealous fight against social fraud multiplies the aberrations

Some parents are in a cold sweat on the other side of the English Channel. According to information from the British newspaper The Guardian, around 23,500 households have had their child benefit suspended in recent weeks in the United Kingdom. A sharp cut that occurs within the framework of a reinforced policy to combat social fraud carried out by the authorities. Except sometimes aid payments were stopped by mistake.

Lisa Morris-Almond would have had the bitter experience of this. As The Guardian tells it, this mother had her children’s family benefits cut off on the pretext that she would not have returned to the country after flying to Norway to attend a friend’s wedding in April 2024… Only, the happy event was finally canceled and Lisa Morris-Almond, therefore, did not board the British Airways plane to land in Oslo.

And she wouldn’t be the only one to suffer this disappointment. The Guardian reports that another woman said she had been unfairly singled out as an emigrant after leaving the country by plane but returning by Eurostar.

“We are convinced that the majority of them were rightly suspended”

Contacted by BFM Business, HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC), the British authority involved in this anti-fraud policy on social benefits in the United Kingdom, indicates that “currently, 23,489 letters [de suspensions des allocations familiales] have been sent.”

“This means that around 0.34% of child benefit claimants have been investigated and their payments have been suspended. We are sure that the majority of them have been suspended for good reason,” he adds.

Speaking to The Guardian, HMRC said it had a “duty to address errors and fraud” and that 589 out of 23,500 parents had had child benefit restored since the errors came to light.

An unsatisfactory response for Lisa Morris-Almond: “Why do we have to solve your problems?” she complains to the Guardian.

Update of aid suspension procedures

But in light of the controversy, HMRC indicates that it has reviewed its procedures regarding the suspension of child benefit payments. “We will no longer suspend any payments before consulting with the recipient, giving them a month to confirm whether they are still eligible. This strikes the right balance between protecting taxpayers’ money and ensuring payments are only suspended where appropriate,” the UK government authority says.

As part of the fight against welfare fraud, “applicants must inform HMRC if they are outside the UK for 8 weeks or more,” it specifies.

Family subsidies are paid to more than 6.9 million families, helping 11.9 million children. It is one of the most used social benefits in the United Kingdom.