More than 90 percent of Northern Ireland families targeted in a UK-wide child benefit fraud crackdown last year were actually entitled to the payments, according to newly released data. The figures show that 742 out of 826 households flagged by HM Revenue and Customs were confirmed as legitimate claimants after investigation.

The crackdown used Home Office travel records to identify families who appeared to have left the UK while still claiming child benefit. However, the data often failed to capture returns to Northern Ireland, particularly when journeys involved crossing the land border from the Republic of Ireland or when airport records were incomplete. This meant that holidaymakers flying out from Belfast and returning via Dublin were frequently marked as having emigrated.

Affected families described the process as deeply stressful. One mother, who asked to remain anonymous, said she received a letter suspending her payments and demanding extensive documentation, including bank statements, school letters, and medical records, after a short family holiday. Despite HMRC's own employment records showing she was still working in Northern Ireland, she had to prove she had not left the country.

The high error rate in the region was flagged during an earlier pilot, which incorrectly targeted almost 80 percent of NI cases. Nevertheless, HMRC proceeded with the wider rollout and removed a safeguard that cross-checked claims against real-time pay-as-you-earn tax records, further increasing mistakes.

Across the United Kingdom, around 14,000 families had their benefits wrongly suspended. A National Audit Office report last month concluded that the policy's impact on claimants was not adequately considered and that key decisions were taken without proper oversight by inexperienced temporary staff.

HMRC has since reintroduced PAYE checks, extended response deadlines, and stopped suspending payments at the first letter. A spokesperson acknowledged weaknesses in oversight, noting that no single senior manager was ultimately responsible for the scheme. The agency said the initiative had prevented thousands of incorrect claims, protecting tens of millions of pounds in public funds, and it was relaunched this year with improvements. A parliamentary inquiry by the Public Accounts Committee is continuing.