Parents all over the UK are being badly advised and misled by false guidance from HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC). This misinformation has led to false child benefit claims and surprise repayment requests. Jess Paine and Tetiana are just a few of those impacted. They’ve each told us the harrowing story of having to work through the bureaucratic hell created by HMRC’s errors.
Jess Paine, a mother in the UK, got a disturbing letter from HMRC dated October 15, 2025. These included the letter stating her child benefit would be cancelled, along with accusations that she had left the country. This alarming messaging followed a months-long, torturous back-and-forth with HMRC. They requested 15 months’ worth of bank statements and financial records not only from her, but her husband.
By August 2025, Paine had already had to cancel her child benefit because her daughter no longer qualified. Then, in September, she received yet another letter from HMRC. They even say they have evidence proving that she “departed the UK” in March 2024. But the letter only allowed her the span of one month to show that she did not.
Then, in October, things went from bad to worse for Paine. HMRC are saying that she has to repay £3,706.35 in child benefits because they incorrectly assumed that she had moved to Ukraine permanently. All of this was hard for Lee to believe, as she put it, “At first I thought it was a hoax.”
“I remember one day I was just in tears on the way to pick my other children up and thinking, what on earth is going on?” – Jess Paine
Paine’s worry compounded as she worked through the anxiety of needing to validate her residency while going through additional stresses and needs of the postpartum period. “I had just days to gather a mountain of documentation, which was hugely stressful especially in the vulnerable postpartum period,” she recounted.
Sarah Butler is in the same plight. HMRC is now asking for £2,686.40 back from her for a full year of unilateral child benefit that she has spent. Butler was still on maternity leave with her third child and newly assigned when she received this run-through-the-heart notice. After a lengthy mandatory reconsideration period, HMRC eventually accepted that they had got this decision wrong.
“The system is just so broken.” – Sarah Butler
Tetiana is a Ukrainian national who escaped her home country during the war in 2022. Unfortunately, after her escape, she found herself facing a different set of challenges with HMRC. Following an eight-week hospital stay and a single day in intensive care, she got some devastating news. HMRC then sent her a letter threatening to reclaim over £2,000, under the false assumption that she had not returned from Ireland after visiting a friend in 2023.
Tetiana shared the fear and frustration that so many of her colleagues feel today. I was afraid that I couldn’t deliver the proof they were looking for. We have felt so much psychological pain already due to this war,” she stated.
Tetiana had received threats regarding repayment of over £3,500. This raised still greater anxiety in her already harrowed life, burdened with the extremely difficult experience from the war.
“It’s like saying I’m the tooth fairy and I have to prove that I’m not.” – Tetiana
The hardships these families endure only further highlight a serious problem. HMRC’s reliance on extremely outdated or inaccurate travel data from the Home Office has troubling downstream impacts, including Jess Paine and Sarah Butler, parents, who have stated their concerns. The flip side of that is that they know exactly what all these mistakes mean to them.
“They’ve just set themselves this ridiculous goal (saving £350m) and they are not even thinking about the impact, which is just ridiculous. Now you’ve got all these families who have had their child benefit stopped. It’s so wrong.” – Sarah Butler
The impact of these mistakes goes beyond just costly fines and fees. It destabilizes families’ emotional and physical security. These changes leave parents feeling exposed as they race to produce the necessary documentation while they face the minefield of obstacles created by HMRC’s requirements.