Does anyone successfully claim Child Benefit whilst living in Thailand ?

p.s i'm not working for the Inland Revenue !!!!!

No, you can't claim it if you live full time in Thailand. You have to be living in the UK for more than 6months a year (I recall, check it online) to claim this, you need a UK address, Uk bank account etc. If you are found to not be living in the UK then it is benefit fraud and they are really cracking down on any BF as this is a big news item in recent months (benefit fraud in general)

But have a look at the child benefit website, it will have all info on there.

No you cannot claim it unless living in the u.k., if caught you will have to pay it back. that was from someone i spoke to at the inland revenue office.

I understand that it the limit is 12 weeks absence from the UK per annum. However, I am not certain that the wording is so tightly written as to disallow a claim if one were to use the non parent recipient route. There is dispensation for the carer or other such term to claim but I am not certain that, under this avenue, they specifically exclude the child.

In essence, I think the law states that unless working for the UK government or forces etc. the claimant must only be out for a maximum of 12 weeks per year. My argument would be based on whether it stipulates that the child has to be in the UK for 40 weeks a year or not. If not and one argues that say a grandparent was providing whatever support was deemed necessary, then they may be able to claim if they were resident in the UK.

Whatever, it is a moot point when you have quasi Europeans claiming for multiple children on the back of dodgy certificates provided by people iin the "new" European countries. Also, all those asylum people surely bleed child benefit from the state as well despite never paying in a single penny !