Child Benefit delay: ‘I was forced to go to a food bank’

Megan Dragon, 26, said she was “shocked” when her benefit did not arrive because it is usually “really reliable”.

The mum-of-four from Northamptonshire, who does not work, said the money was “crucial” as her husband’s income alone was “not enough to cover us”.

“We need it for fuel, food, our mortgage,” Megan told the BBC.

The family almost missed a mortgage payment on Monday because of the delay but managed to get a three-day extension from their lender.

Megan also struggled to work out why the benefit had not turned up, only finding out after stumbling on a thread on the networking site, Mumsnet.

“I was disappointed and annoyed with HMRC as it seemed that people had warned them about this on Friday evening and Saturday morning and they’d ignored it. It was probably avoidable.”

She said the family was now “back on track”.

“We are in a really fortunate position, but others aren’t so lucky.”