Money in my care-4 account

csrivats999

Hi all

I just realised i have over £520 in my care-4 account that was used to pay for my children nursery.
Since the birth of my second child in 2010 my wife has been at home (she used to work prior to that) and we are not sure when the kids will go back to nursery.
Care-4 however have asked me to utilise the money failing which the money will be swept away.
There is no way i can redeem the money in cash.
Any idea what can be done now?
Can i pay it to the childminder that my son used to go to and get it off her
Its too big a sum to see it go away.

Please suggest.

thatgirlsam

I've not heard of Care-4 before

Is it money that is given to use for childcare?

If you haven't needed it for childcare then let the money go back for people who need it

Or can it be used for other things?

Ginger_Poodle

Assuming these are childcare vouchers purchased through a salary sacrafice scheme? If so, they can be spent on wrap around care/holiday clubs for school children, au pairs (!) and a few other specific things. Not much help to you I expect.

Why not call them and ask???

suze200

thatgirlsam wrote: »

I've not heard of Care-4 before

Is it money that is given to use for childcare?

If you haven't needed it for childcare then let the money go back for people who need it

Or can it be used for other thigs?

Money in a Care 4 account is not "given" to pay for childcre. The account is funded from an employee’s wages (either Mum or Dads') specifically to pay for childcare. It is taken directly from the employee’s wages. It can only be used to pay a registered childcare provider for the employee’s child.

suze200

csrivats999 wrote: »

Hi all

I just realised i have over £520 in my care-4 account that was used to pay for my children nursery.
Since the birth of my second child in 2010 my wife has been at home (she used to work prior to that) and we are not sure when the kids will go back to nursery.
Care-4 however have asked me to utilise the money failing which the money will be swept away.
There is no way i can redeem the money in cash.
Any idea what can be done now?
Can i pay it to the childminder that my son used to go to and get it off her
Its too big a sum to see it go away.

Please suggest.

Yes you could if the Childminder was willing and you can trust her to pay you the cash. You would have set up a one off payment via Care4 in the usual way and then the Chidminder would have to "request" the payment. I had to do this when my child stopped attending after school club and there was a +ve balance in the account.

thatgirlsam

suze200 wrote: »

Money in a Care 4 account is not "given" to pay for childcre. The account is funded from an employee’s wages (either Mum or Dads') specifically to pay for childcare. It is taken directly from the employee’s wages. It can only be used to pay a registered childcare provider for the employee’s child.

Oh right, thanks for that

Seems bad that you cannot get the money back if you don't need the childcare, circumstances change all the time - Why don't they give you your money back?

Ciske

thatgirlsam wrote: »

Oh right, thanks for that

Seems bad that you cannot get the money back if you don't need the childcare, circumstances change all the time - Why don't they give you your money back?

It's all over the T&C and the forms you receive when signing up, that you can't get the money back. It can only be spent on childcare.

It comes out of your wages pre-tax, so I assume refunding it would mean a lot of hassle with going through your HR departments, redoing the tax etc.

onlyroz

csrivats999 wrote: »

Care-4 however have asked me to utilise the money failing which the money will be swept away.

What do you mean by "swept away"? Can't you just keep the money in the account until you need it? E.g. to pay for holiday clubs in the future?

JodyBPM

I would imagine that the childminder would only be able to take the money in return for providing childcare, as otherwise it would be fraud.

You were given a 25% (or 40%) tax break on the money in that account and in order to qualify for that the funds need to be used to pay for childcare from a registered childcare provider.

Childminders have to keep records for tax purposes etc and can be audited. It would be more than her job's worth to put her career on the line and pass the money through her books, without providing the childcare.

I would imagine though, even though your wife is a SAHM, that there might be occasions where putting the children in childcare for a few days may be beneficial to you. You may even find some registered childminders who will offer weekend o evening babysitting.

Judith_W

I think that some companies are more strict than others about refunds so it may be worth asking again. I'm sure care-4 will allow you to keep it until you need it so you could use it for summer holiday clubs etc when they are a bit older.

neneromanova

Why not send your eldest to a childcare for a couple hours a week so the money gets utilised, the child gets to play and mum gets some time off and only has to look after 1.