child care vouchers/ kiddi vouchers

soupy600

Hi 
Not sure where this thread belong so put it in here for now.
Through work i did a salary sacrifice to put into a child care voucher scheme. With my youngest now in p7 i no longer need this and have request the payment to be stopped but told the money i have built up can't be refunded to me. I have stated that the plan was to use these vouchers up while she was in p7 but due to the pandemic and able to work from home i no longer need these and would like a refund. But they have said they only give a refund for exceptional or unforeseen event, or change to your personal circumstances.

Anyone any experience with this or know where i stand do i just loose the money?

Alexland

Assume this the old scheme for people that opened accounts before October 2018.

https://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/bills/article-8569987/Parents-denied-refunds-childcare-vouchers.html

"HMRC says refunds are at the employer's discretion, adding that they would need to deduct the appropriate tax and National Insurance."

However if the money has already gone from the employer into a voucher scheme it might be down to the rules of the voucher scheme on if they will refund the employer to pay the employee. If your voucher scheme is Kiddi vouchers then...

https://www.kiddivouchers.com/employeefaqs.php

"How do I obtain a refund?

Under HMRC guidelines, refunds are only allowed if you are unable to use your vouchers as a result of exceptional and unforeseeable circumstances.

Refunds must be processed through PAYE, so tax and National Insurance will be deducted. You must not accept any cash or change from your childcare provider in respect of your Childcare Vouchers.

If you have experienced an exceptional and unforeseen circumstance, provide details to info@kiddivouchers.com. The information you provide will be reviewed and may be shared with your employer."

soupy600

Thanks @Alexland yeah i have messaged them as the plan was to use them this year and not needed next year due to my youngest going into secdonary school, The reason for not using these due to the pandamic and being able to cover child care with working from home but they have not expected this. 

Looks like i'm going to end up loosing all the money i had built up 

Alexland

soupy600 said:

Looks like i'm going to end up loosing all the money i had built up 

I would try arguing the pandemic was "exceptional and unforeseen circumstance" as for at least some of the period the child care providers were closed or only open for key worker children.

soupy600

Alexland said:

soupy600 said:

Looks like i'm going to end up loosing all the money i had built up 

I would try arguing the pandemic was "exceptional and unforeseen circumstance" as for at least some of the period the child care providers were closed or only open for key worker children.

They had asked me to give more details with times and dates etc, (used my work email and was on holiday on friday) but before i could give more detials i came in today to an email from them on friday stating i won't be getting a refund and told the pandemic was a reason

verybigchris

That's disgusting. To refund after an admin fee would be understandable, but to pocket all of your cash for absolutely nothing is obscene.

If I was in your shoes I'd be contacting the money pages of a newspaper, like this one in The Guardian. Feels like something that's right up their street, and might shine a light on how many other families are in the same boat.

However, there is also a potential way out of it, depending on your relationship with your childcare provider. Although childcare providers can't refund voucher payments direct to the parent (because it would be a fantastic tax dodge!) they can refund any other payments that you have previously made to them directly. For example, if you paid them £500 in cash/bank transfer when you first started, and you now have £400 in vouchers doing nothing, you could send them the vouchers and they could refund you £400 from your original payment.

Alexland

soupy600 said:

They had asked me to give more details with times and dates etc, (used my work email and was on holiday on friday) but before i could give more detials i came in today to an email from them on friday stating i won't be getting a refund and told the pandemic was a reason

So they are denying you a refund under their "exceptional and unforeseen circumstance" clause because such an event happened?

KiddiVouchers seems to be run by Wider Plan Ltd an FCA registered introducer. In the first instance I would suggest requesting a formal complaint is raised and say you "do not feel they have treated you fairly or acted in line with published information" (you may wish to print a copy of their website to paper/PDF incase they later change it). If they deny that claim you can ask them if you can escalate to the Financial Ombudsmen Service however I suspect that will not be possible as this is almost certainly not a regulated product.

https://register.fca.org.uk/s/firm?id=0010X00004kt28dQAA

As a final option when the above is exhausted you could reply to the complaint response and tell them that you are still not happy and as such will "investigate the option of recovering the money via the small claims court" (not going as far to say you will start legal action) and mention that you "are aware it can now be done easily via moneyclaim.gov.uk" and see if they respond to that. I mentioned this (not in a threatening way) once in my final interaction with the Student Loan Company and they posted me a cheque the same day although in this case any refund would need to go back to the employer. I wouldn't suggest you actually proceed with a claim without getting qualified legal advice which may be uneconomical given the value.

eskbanker

Alexland said:

https://www.kiddivouchers.com/employeefaqs.php

"How do I obtain a refund?

Under HMRC guidelines, refunds are only allowed if you are unable to use your vouchers as a result of exceptional and unforeseeable circumstances. [...]

Going back to this earlier post about the exceptional and unforeseeable circumstances - perhaps a harsh interpretation, but surely in this case OP isn't unable to use them as a result of such circumstances but effectively chooses not to use them, by virtue of now working from home without a need for external childcare ("...able to work from home i no longer need these...")?

OP, regarding "won't be getting a refund and told the pandemic was a reason", do they expand on that at all?

Alexland

eskbanker said:

Going back to this earlier post about the exceptional and unforeseeable circumstances - perhaps a harsh interpretation, but surely in this case OP isn't unable to use them as a result of such circumstances but effectively chooses not to use them, by virtue of now working from home without a need for external childcare ("...able to work from home i no longer need these...")?

Yes which is which I commented in post 4 above that the refund might be limited to "some of the period the child care providers were closed or only open for key worker children" as the period they may have been unable to use them.

soupy600

eskbanker said:

Alexland said:

https://www.kiddivouchers.com/employeefaqs.php

"How do I obtain a refund?

Under HMRC guidelines, refunds are only allowed if you are unable to use your vouchers as a result of exceptional and unforeseeable circumstances. [...]

Going back to this earlier post about the exceptional and unforeseeable circumstances - perhaps a harsh interpretation, but surely in this case OP isn't unable to use them as a result of such circumstances but effectively chooses not to use them, by virtue of now working from home without a need for external childcare ("...able to work from home i no longer need these...")?

OP, regarding "won't be getting a refund and told the pandemic was a reason", do they expand on that at all?

Yeah i totally understand and thats probablly where they coming from as my daughters 10 and they say they can be used untill the september after my youngest 15th birthday. i have asked what happens then if there not used after that do i just lose the money and where does it goe to? they haven't replayed.

soupy600

Alexland said:

soupy600 said:

They had asked me to give more details with times and dates etc, (used my work email and was on holiday on friday) but before i could give more detials i came in today to an email from them on friday stating i won't be getting a refund and told the pandemic was a reason

So they are denying you a refund under their "exceptional and unforeseen circumstance" clause because such an event happened?

KiddiVouchers seems to be run by Wider Plan Ltd an FCA registered introducer. In the first instance I would suggest requesting a formal complaint is raised and say you "do not feel they have treated you fairly or acted in line with published information" (you may wish to print a copy of their website to paper/PDF incase they later change it). If they deny that claim you can ask them if you can escalate to the Financial Ombudsmen Service however I suspect that will not be possible as this is almost certainly not a regulated product.

https://register.fca.org.uk/s/firm?id=0010X00004kt28dQAA

As a final option when the above is exhausted you could reply to the complaint response and tell them that you are still not happy and as such will "investigate the option of recovering the money via the small claims court" (not going as far to say you will start legal action) and mention that you "are aware it can now be done easily via moneyclaim.gov.uk" and see if they respond to that. I mentioned this (not in a threatening way) once in my final interaction with the Student Loan Company and they posted me a cheque the same day although in this case any refund would need to go back to the employer. I wouldn't suggest you actually proceed with a claim without getting qualified legal advice which may be uneconomical given the value.

Cheers, as said i did reply stating they had asked for further information but never give me a chance to reply but they had followed there escalation process and it was reviewed at the lighest level?. Will wait and see if they reply to that email and maybe ask for a copy of there process.

Great advice and will follow up on it thank youy