Child Care Costs

If you claim for housing benefit, council tax benefit or both, and you work and have to pay for childcare, in certain circumstances, and up to certain limits, the amount you pay for childcare can be disregarded from the earnings used to calculate your claim for benefit entitlement.

Will I qualify for a childcare disregard?

You will qualify for a childcare disregard if you are one of the following:

• A lone parent working for more than 16 hours per week
• A couple where both of you are working for more than 16 hours per week
• A couple where one of you is working more than 16 hours per week and the other is unable to work because of a disability, in prison or in hospital.

Under what circumstances will I qualify?

You will qualify for a childcare disregard if your child/children are looked after by one of the following:

• A registered child minder, nursery or play scheme
• A child minding scheme for which registration is not required (i.e. one run by a school or Local Authority)
• Childcare approved for Working Tax Credit purposes
• Any other out-of-school scheme provided by a school or Local Authority on school premises (in this case only, the child must be aged 8 or older)

How old must my child be?

If any of the above circumstances apply to you, you will be entitled to the childcare disregard until the first Monday in September after your child’s 15th birthday. If your child is disabled and qualifies for a disabled child premium, however, you will remain entitled until the first Monday in September following their 16th birthday.

How much can be disregarded?

The amount that can be disregard from your income is equal to the amount you pay each week up to a limit of £175 for one child or £300 per week for two or more children.

If I am eligible, what do I have to do next?

If you are already receiving benefit and your childcare costs have just started, tell Aberdeenshire Council benefit section about this straight away. You will need to provide proof of the amount you have to pay and the proof must be in the form of original documents, which will be verify and return to you on the day they are receive in the benefit office.  Alternatively you can visit one of the benefit offices where your documents will be returned immediately. If you are claiming for the first time, you will need to enter the details of the amount you pay on the claim form and provide proof as outlined above. 

What happens next?

Your benefit entitlement will be calculated by reducing your income by the amount of your childcare costs (up to the limit allowed).  A notification letter will be issued informing you how your benefit has been worked out. You should read this carefully to make sure that all the details about your income, capital and household composition are correct and you must let Aberdeenshire Council benefit section know straightaway if any of the information on the letter is wrong.

What happens if my circumstances change?

If your circumstances change, for example you no longer have to pay childcare costs for a child, you must report this change to Aberdeenshire Council benefit section immediately because it may affect the amount of benefit you are being paid.  You must not rely on any other organisation, Council Service or Government Agency, e.g. Jobcentre Plus to tell us about any changes – you must do this yourself. 

What happens if my circumstances change?

If your circumstances change, for example you no longer have to pay childcare costs for a child, you must report this change to Aberdeenshire Council benefit section immediately because it may affect the amount of benefit you are being paid.  You must not rely on any other organisation, Council Service or Government Agency, e.g. Jobcentre Plus to tell us about any changes – you must do this yourself. 

What if I don’t agree with your decision?

If you don’t agree with the decision you can ask Aberdeenshire Council benefit section to look at it again. If you want to dispute the decision you must do this in writing within a month of receiving your letter, giving the reasons why you think it is wrong.