Childcare Vouchers: cut childcare costs by £1,000/year Discussion Area

SHEILA54

Hi

My daughter has been asked if she would be willing to look after a friend's 2 children, aged 6 and 8 years, for 1 night a week whilst the mother works in her new job. She often has the children to play with my granddaughter. Their mother is entitled to childcare vouchers but my daughter is not registered.

What is her position with regard to this please as obviously, with the children being asleep and then taking them to school with her own child, she would not need to teach the national curriculum?

Thanks

Savvy_Sue

I suspect she'd need to be registered with OFSTED in order to do this legally, regardless of the fact that she wouldn't need to teach the NC. She'd definitely need to be registered if the friend wanted to pay her in vouchers. I don't know if there are extra issues with overnight care.

I'd recommend that if your daughter pursues this, she draws up a decent contract: it's easy to do something for a friend, but this could easily turn sour, and a contract provides clarity.

PACEY (was National Childminders Association) may have good advice.

matthewcarlrose

I Have just recently registered on my work childcare voucher scheme, My wife by the looks of it also has a scheme where she works (NHS). My question is, can she also apply?

Thanks In advance for any information

Regards

Matt

rpc

matthewcarlrose wrote: »

I Have just recently registered on my work childcare voucher scheme, My wife by the looks of it also has a scheme where she works (NHS). My question is, can she also apply?

Yes.

Extra characters to keep forum happy.

jem1276

I am a bit confused about the voucher schemes. My son will be going into childcare for the first time and hubby's firm says we can use either Kiddivouchers or TEDS.

Not sure what the difference is and how we can work out what will save us the most?

Any advice very appreciated :beer:

jem1276

jem1276 wrote: »

I am a bit confused about the voucher schemes. My son will be going into childcare for the first time and hubby's firm says we can use either Kiddivouchers or TEDS.

Not sure what the difference is and how we can work out what will save us the most?

Any advice very appreciated :beer:

Also I read on a forum that if your childcare is less than £175 per week it is not worth using vouchers and ours will be. Does anyone know if this is correct?

Lost_in_space_2

I bought into the childcare vouchers scheme through Edenred to pay for out of school facilities provided by my employer. I was then made redundant and the reason for having the vouchers disappeared.
My employer would not refund any money and Edenred would not offer any help. I did suggest that this was a lifestyle event but no luck.
I have tried to use the outstanding vouchers elsewhere but no-one wanted to accept them. I was surprised at how many suppliers steered clear of accepting vouchers.

If they are not used before my children are too old then I lose the money.
Does anyone have any ideas on how to sort this out?
I seem to have exhausted all avenues and don't really want to see the money just going to into their account when they failed to provide anything.

I cannot even give them to a children's charity -> Naomi House. ( I'm not allowed to post their URL so please look them up )
Please support them as they do great work.

mrsljt

Hi

I'm not sure if this has already been asked and answered elsewhere in the forum, but the playgroup my daughter will be attending from September has said they don't accept childcare vouchers. They also don't do the 15 hours free provision either. They are Ofsted registered so actually can, but chose not to. The manager told me it was "too much paperwork". It's frustrating because we've been putting a small amount aside to cover this cost, or at least some of it, until she reaches the term where she can get the free hours. Now we find out we can't use either of them! Annoying.

Anyone got any tips or advice as to how I can broach this with the provider?

Thanks in advance.:beer:

Savvy_Sue

mrsljt wrote: »

Anyone got any tips or advice as to how I can broach this with the provider?

Depending on how much choice there is locally, it could be completely straightforward. "You've decided not to take childcare vouchers and not to offer the free 15 hours per week. I've decided to send my child elsewhere."

Alternatively, if it's a small playgroup with a voluntary committee, offer to do the necessary work. Because I can well believe that it is a significant amount of paperwork and potential hassle.

Billy-the-Bunter

Hi There,

I've been trawling the internet for a long time on this subject and i can't seem to get a straightforward answer. I own a limited company, i am the sole director and shareholder. I take a basic salary and draw dividends which put me over the higher rate threshold. My wife's salary is under the higher rate threshold. I am about to embark on setting up a self operated childcare voucher scheme. Yes, the nursery is ofsted registered.

From what I read, in my situation I can provide myself 'the director' with the maximum allowable amount of childcare vouchers, i.e. £243 per month which I pay directly to the Nursery from my company's bank account. This is providing that I have in place all qualifying documentation etc. Am i correct in saying that when determining wether i myself qualify for the full childcare i do not have to included the amount of annual dividend that i take?

The next issue is that to determine wether one qualify's for child benefit it would seem that you need to include the dividend and basic salary in your income calculation. which in my case means that i do not qualify for child benefit. This seems to be the general consensus in most contractor forums. This is why I question the exclusion of income from limited company dividends when determining wether I qualify for the full amount of childcare vouchers.

These questions come up on forums all the time but no one seems to be able to provide definitive answers to both childcare voucher and child benefit queries for individuals operating a limited company in this way.

Can anyone help? Has anyone been through this? Does anyone no the actual answer on this?