Thousands of parents can wake up to £2,212 extra in bank account in 'no-brainer'

More than 214,000 parents could lose THOUSANDS if they don’t apply for a ‘no-brainer’ benefit. Every parent in the UK can apply for child benefit to help with the costs of raising their child, with the HMRC perk worth £25.60 a week for your eldest child, and then £16.95 a week for any subsequent children.

For a family with two children who qualify, this adds up to £2,212.60 a year. For just one child, you get £1,331.20 a year. New data obtained by The Sun Money through a Freedom of Information (FOI) request to HMRC shows 214,000 parents fail to apply for the benefit each year.

Steve Webb, partner at pension consultants LCP, said: "One of the "fringe benefits" of claiming child benefit is that you are also awarded valuable National Insurance credits which help you build up a state pension even if you are not working.

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"What has made matters more complicated in the last decade is the creation of the high income child benefit charge which has put some families off claiming. But in this situation, parents should still go through the child benefit claim process and simply tick the box on the form to say that they want the NI credits but not the cash benefit.

"This way you protect your state pension but without having to worry about the high income charge." And Mr Webb added: "National Insurance credits can be very valuable and should not be thrown away lightly. Just one year of credits adds over £300 per year to your pension in retirement and this doesn’t cost you anything.

"Any parent who has never claimed should get a claim in as soon as possible as currently these will only be backdated for three months." You’ll get National Insurance credits automatically if you claim Child Benefit and your child is under 12.