How do I restart Child Benefit after opting out?

Full answer

Many higher earners opted out of receiving Child Benefit payments to avoid the High Income Child Benefit Charge (HICBC), which claws back the benefit through self assessment once income passes the relevant threshold. If your circumstances change -- a pay cut, a career break, more pension contributions, or a new child -- it can be worth restarting payments. How to restart: contact HMRC to ask for payments to resume. You can do this through your Personal Tax Account online, via the HMRC app, by phone, or in writing. You do not need to make a fresh claim if you previously claimed but elected not to be paid -- you simply switch payments back on. Restarting can usually be backdated by up to three months, so do not delay if your income has already fallen. Why it matters: even if you stayed opted out to dodge the charge, it is often still wise to keep the underlying claim active (just with payments turned off), because a live claim protects your National Insurance credits towards the State Pension for a parent who is not working or earns below the NI threshold (GBP 12,570 in 2026/27). Those credits help build the 35 qualifying years needed for the full new State Pension of GBP 241.30 a week (around GBP 12,548 a year). Who it affects: parents whose income has dropped back below the HICBC threshold, or who reduced adjusted net income through pension contributions or salary sacrifice. The exact HICBC threshold and taper are set by HMRC and are not in our rate card, so check gov.uk for the current figures. Worked approach: model your adjusted net income, including pension contributions which reduce it, using a take-home pay calculator, then compare against the current HICBC threshold on gov.uk to decide whether restarting payments leaves you better off after any charge.

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