HMRC failure to apply St Prix when deciding a claim for child benefit

Only use this letter if your client:

• stopped working due to the late stages of pregnancy or pregnancy aftermath
• was refused child benefit as she is not a ‘qualified person’
• has EU pre-settled status

This letter assumes your client is female and has given up work due to the late stages or aftermath of pregnancy. Edits are needed if your client is male.

When not to use

Do not use this letter if: 

• your client has not also requested a mandatory reconsideration of the decision to refuse child benefit.

The main legal arguments in this template are:

• Section 141 of the Social Security Contributions and Benefits Act 1992 (the “Act”) provides that a person who is responsible for one or more children or qualifying young persons in any week shall be entitled to child benefit.
• Section 146(2) of the Act provides that no person shall be entitled to child benefit for a week unless he or she is in Great Britain in that week.
• Regulation 23(1) of the Child Benefit Regulations 2006 (“CB Regs”) provides that a person is treated as “in Great Britain” if they are “ordinarily resident in the United Kingdom”, including under reg 23(4) that they have a “right to reside”.
• Under regulation 23(4)(b) CB Regs a person with EU pre-settled status can continue to rely on a right to reside under the Immigration (European Economic Area) Regulations 2016 (“EEA Regs”).
• Under reg 6(1) EEA Regs the claimant was a ‘worker’ while she was in work.
• Under Saint Prix v SSWP, C-507/12 [2014] ECLI:EU:C:2014:2007 the European Court of Justice held that a ‘worker’ also includes a woman who has given up work due to the late stages or aftermath of pregnancy.
• Under SSWP v SFF, ADR v SSWP, CS v B Barnet and SSWP [2015] UKUT 0502 a “reasonable period” for a woman to not be in work before and following the birth of a child will generally start 11 weeks before the expected date of childbirth and continue for 52 weeks.

Information about your client

• name
• address
• national insurance number (NINo)
• date of birth (DoB)
• nationality and date moved to the UK
• date granted EU pre-settled status

Background facts

Such as:

•  your client’s expected week of childbirth in respect of the relevant child
• the date your client gave birth to the relevant child
• your client's previous employer’s details (name, address, etc)
• the date your client started and stopped work due to the late stages of her pregnancy, or child birth
• the relevant child's name
• the date your client claimed child benefit for the relevant child
• any health difficulties or disabilities of your client or other family members
• any capacity issues of vulnerability your client has
• what financial hardship your client is experiencing as a result of the refusal:
  • any risk to their being able to afford to pay for their housing, heating or food
  • any need to use food banks
  • any detriment to their health and welfare or to any of their family member’s health and welfare

Information relating to the decision

•  the date of HMRC’s refusal of child benefit and the reason given
• the date, and how, your client notified HMRC that they had been in work but stopped due to the late stages of her pregnancy or child birth
• what evidence your client provided to support their request and how this was provided
• how HMRC responded including dates
• the date you client sought a mandatory reconsideration of the decision to refuse child benefit

We've created this guide is to help you successfully use our judicial review pre-action letter templates: Guide to using CPAG's judicial review pre-action letter templates

Once you've finished your letter, please email it to us at: [email protected] before you send it to the lawyers acting for DWP/HMRC/your local authority. We'll try to reply as quickly as possible and will do so within 7 days.