A number of parents have been left worried and confused over what appeared to be a mistake in their Child Benefit payments.
Some checking their bank accounts found a random small payment today (Friday), instead of their usual payment date on Monday.
A recorded message on HMRC's helpline on Thursday told parents one quarter of the child benefit payment would be paid on Friday, with the remaining three quarters on Monday, but gave no explanation for the split payment, which was not communicated to parents and was not mentioned on HMRC's website.