HMRC failed to make scheduled Child Benefit payments, causing hundreds of thousands of parents across the nation to face significant hardship.
Some complained about not having enough money to feed their children or pay bus costs.
Others rushed to cancel direct debit bill payments to utility companies to avoid getting overdrawn and incurring bank costs.
HMRC Error Affects 500,000 Households
The issue, which the HMRC blamed on a computer error, is thought to have impacted 500,000 families.
At first, staff denied any issues until thousands of people attempted to contact its helplines, which went down.
Over 7.5 million households receive Child Benefits, which are normally distributed every four weeks. On Mondays or Tuesdays.
Child Benefit is currently valued £25.60 per week (£102.40 per month) for the first or only child, and £16.95 per week (£67.80 per month) for the second child. Payments are effectively limited to two children per household.
These payments can mean the difference between making ends meet and running out of money for many families.
HMRC has already apologised for the problem and stated that all outstanding payments will be provided on Wednesday morning.
It has also recommended anyone who has experienced financial loss to file a complaint and claim. However, HMRC has been chastised for making access to the complaints' system difficult and requiring customers to join in through the Government Gateway.
HMRC Apologises for Child Benefit Payment Failures: Parents Urged to Seek Compensation
Many parents reported the issue on Friday of last week. One enraged parent stated, “Child Benefit hasn't gone in. Seeing some kids … with no money for food.
Another said: “What an absolute disgrace You have had since Friday to solve this child benefit payment issue, but everyone kept getting the same generic message to wait till today.
“Millions of kids off school and not fed today due to your incompetence!”
A third added: “Bank has had to reverse three Direct Debits to get me out of being overdrawn.”
She stated that she had to contact her electricity and water companies to adjust the date of regular bill payments.
Many parents answered to a poll conducted by Martin Lewis, founder of MoneySavingExpert.com, with almost 80 percent claiming to have experienced the delay. He recommended anyone who had lost out to complain and file a claim to reimburse any associated costs.
A spokesman for HMRC stated: “We are very sorry that some customers did not receive their scheduled Child Benefit payments as expected and we understand the concern and difficulty this may have caused.
“We have now fixed the problem and are putting measures in place to prevent this from happening again. Affected customers will now receive their payments on Wednesday morning (5th June). Anyone who has incurred a direct financial loss because of the delayed payment can apply for redress by completing our online complaints form.”