'I got £2,600 in expired childcare vouchers back' - how to check if you've lost vouchers and reclaim

Former_MSE_Callum

Read our MSE News story:
I got £2,600 in expired childcare vouchers back' - how to check if you've lost vouchers and reclaim

rshales007

Adding my comment here rather than the discussion section under the main article I don't have or want a Facebook account. I, like many others, have a significant amount of money sitting in a childcare voucher account (approx £900) which for various reasons I am unable to use. I have tried to claim the money back in the past either by contacting my HR department, or the company managing my scheme (Care-4) but without success. When I signed up to the scheme over 10 years ago, the first question I asked was would I be able to claim any unused money back, to which the answer was yes. This was over the phone, and a long time ago, so I have no evidence. Over the years Care-4 have revised their T's & C's a number of times. They now contain a clause stating that unused vouchers cannot be claimed back, but that didn't exist when I signed up, nor was I notified when that clause was added. Due to the number of people who appear to be affected by this, and the sums of money involved, it would be good to get the support of MSE.

Growingmyown

I have £440 sitting in a childcare voucher scheme and I cannot use it. My son is now 10 and nowhere is doing clubs where I could use them (you know, because of Covid). The T&Cs are: 'Vouchers do not expire but they are non-refundable unless in exceptional limited circumstances as guided by HMRC.' This is no good to me. I have tried to get the money back but can't. I think that MSE should start a campaign about this and lobby the gov/HMRC to change the rules. The climate is very different to when I began saving them. Now I can't see how I'd spend them. If the gov broadened the rules to allow spending on clubs like tennis, swimming, etc, that would help.

sheramber

Growingmyown said:

I have £440 sitting in a childcare voucher scheme and I cannot use it. My son is now 10 and nowhere is doing clubs where I could use them (you know, because of Covid). The T&Cs are: 'Vouchers do not expire but they are non-refundable unless in exceptional limited circumstances as guided by HMRC.' This is no good to me. I have tried to get the money back but can't. I think that MSE should start a campaign about this and lobby the gov/HMRC to change the rules. The climate is very different to when I began saving them. Now I can't see how I'd spend them. If the gov broadened the rules to allow spending on clubs like tennis, swimming, etc, that would help.

you can if they are registered with OFSTED
"Surprisingly, you can also use childcare vouchers for tuition for your child – as the tutor is providing 'childcare' at the same time as tuition. However, the tutor/institution must again be Ofsted registered and also happy to accept vouchers, so check first."
https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/family/childcare-vouchers/

Already70

I have managed to get back funds that were paid into a voucher scheme and we were unable to use due to covid. It was the employers responsibility to submit the request to edenred and then the funds were paid through normal payroll so that tax and NI could be paid on it. It may be employer dependent as my employer states that once paid it they could not be refunded whereas my husbands employer which is a much smaller company did claim them back for us despite both companies using edenred.

sheramber

It depends on whether the employer's payroll system can handle a repayment or not.