3. Who should claim it?
The person responsible for the child or young person must make the claim and must be living with the child or young person or be contributing at least the rate of child benefit for their support.
If you are entitled to child benefit for a child under the age of 12, you are also entitled to national insurance ‘credits for parents and foster parents’ (see
Box D.2 in Chapter 11). These can protect the amount of state pension you may get. So if your national insurance contribution record is affected because you are bringing up children, it is important to claim child benefit.
More than one person may be eligible for child benefit for the same child, but only one person can be paid.