to think that Sodexo can't just go off with over £2000 of our money?

[OhBuggerandArse]

I'd really appreciate some help from anyone who's got any ideas of how to handle this situation.

We have been signed up to the Sodexo childcare voucher scheme through my and my husband's work, and have been paying in for around seven years. We had a significant balance (over £2,000) which we hadn't been able to use while we had changed our childcare arrangements, and had set it aside to pay for after school care for the next couple of years. Neither of us had realised or read in the small print that the vouchers can expire, and only found out when we logged in to make this term's payment and discovered that the money had just vanished from our account.

I got in touch straight away, and was advised to send in a letter explaining what had happened, and that we hadn't been aware of the expiration policy - apparently vouchers can be restored. We've just had the response - a flat refusal, with no details or explanation at all, and that's that. Money vanished. No explanation of where it's vanished to, or how they distinguish between the money we contributed and the proportion that comes from tax. Presumably the company have just got the cash themselves.

What next? I can't see any way in which this can be legitimate - I do get that it's a tax scheme not a bank account, but surely it's not acceptable practice just to absorb money like this without providing any notice? And is there any way I can try again to get them to reconsider?

Would be really grateful for any suggestions anyone might have. (Posting in Money Matters too, but the thread is here for the utter outrage and upset and worry that I feel!)

I've no idea but I would suggest getting your MP on board.

Holy crap that's terrible! No idea but just wanted to wish you good luck!

www.childcarevouchers.co.uk/parents/parent-support/parent-faqs/#.VgkQ_Oy9KSM

Look at point 28.... Are your vouchers electronic, if so they should be indefinite.

That's a different company, and has a different policy. But if that childcare voucher company can keep them indefinitely, there can't be a legal basis for making them expire - except that it's useful to Sodexo to be able to go off with people's cash!

Do you have a Twitter account? I would advise going on Twitter, search for Sodexo's hashtag, and tweet about it. Big companies have people whose job is to monitor social media and minimise bad publicity, so you might get your refund that way. It worked for me in a nightmare with a utility company.

Another letter asking them to explain where the money has gone and asking them to reconsider, followed by a call to HMRC to drop them in it 'clarify' the tax position. Surely they can't just help themselves to money that should now have tax paid on it?

Their Ts&Cs are very clear that the vouchers do expire. They should email you before the expiry date to remind you but they do say that, regardless of whether they have contacted you or not, the vouchers expire. Not sure your MP or HMRC are going to be interested.

Stillunexpected, do you think there is any code of practice or recommendation anywhere which says that they should contact you before the expiry date?

I think the major question here is did they contact you to advise they were going to expire?

No, not at all. First time I even found out there was an expiration policy was when I logged in and the money was gone. And no emails, flags on the account or anything.

No idea on a code of practice I'm afraid. However, the fact that the Ts&Cs say they don't have to contact you suggests not, otherwise they would have been pulled up on that before now.

I think this might be one for Ask Jessica in the Telegraph. You may have been poorly advised and entitled to compensation.

Or you could get legal advice and see if you can get your money back via the Small Claims Court. The limit there is £5000 I believe (and from what I hear the cost of bringing a claim is not outrageous). Check your rights with a solicitor because the T&C's may not be reasonable under consumer law.

I totally understand your anger & frustration - however, if the T&Cs clearly state that vouchers expire, I'm not sure what you can do.

As you have already appealed via the normal route & got nowhere, it has to be worth an e-mail to the CEO's office I would say. Or Tweet about it as a PP said. You have nothing more to lose & could hopefully gain something, even if it is a lower amount as a "goodwill gesture".

Oh, and perhaps you might want to contact the FSA (Financial Services Authority). Worth a try. Or even Watchdog. Or You and Yours on Radio 4. Publicity can work where the law doesn't.

In the meantime, if you and/or your husband have a work forum about this scheme, let people know loud and clear and public that you and your husband have been caught out, in case anyone else falls into the trap. And let them know that you have found Sodexho unhelpful. You never know, someone else might have had similar problems and be able to help you out.

Whilst I sympathise, if you failed to read the small print of their T&Cs, the fault is your own.

They have done nothing wrong, legally.

You can't expect anyone to help when it was your own mistake that caused this.

It's akin to trying to claim insurance or something when the small print had exclusions.

I think the issue is with clarity and quality of advice, surely, as well as with consistency of practice across the sector? My feeling is that it's a bit like the PPI misselling which has acknowledged that burying things in teeny tiny T&Cs doesn't constitute an adequate warning. And the fact that other companies don't do this means that there can't be a reasonable expectation that anyone in a voucher scheme would know to expect it.

I'm not so sure.

There was the case of the OU stopping credits adding up to a degree- they expired after 16 years. No one told people this and many- who wanted to add more credits later on when they retired and had the time and money to take more courses- were unable to. years of studying and money down the drain. the OU didn't inform previous students. Is there also a case against them??

I'm not sure that this wouldn't be caught under the Unfair Contract Terms Act. This whole thing smacks of Unjust Enrichment. To all those saying "tough" what possible reason could there be for Sodexo to take this view. It would perhaps be more reasonable if they said amounts under ?100 (or some other such limit) forfeit after a certain period, but not ?2k. Absolute worst ways they should have simply unwound the tax benefit of the vouchers, deducted a reasonable nominal fee for having done so, and refunded the money.

Here's the Code Of Practice which they have signed up to www.cvpa.org.uk/Documents/Childcare%20Voucher%20Providers%20Association%20Code%20of%20Practice%201.1%20Aug%202013.pdf

Thanks, Malice - the other issue re. the contract is that you don't really have a choice about what voucher provider to use. Your employer signs up with a scheme, and you don't have any say in which one they choose.

The fact that you said they can reimburse but have said flat no, suggests you have some leverage.

That's a huge amount of money and very sneaky. It's put me off using them for DC2.

Iain McMath is the CEO at Sodexo Benefits. He also sits on the board of the Childcare Voucher Providers Association formulating best practice for the industry.

We are with another provider and our vouchers do not expire.

The code of practice requires that warnings about voucher cancellation are "adequately prominent" which sounds like it may well not be the case here.

It certainly sounds like very sharp practice and in your shoes I'd be making sure that as many people heard about it as possible ... Inside your company and on social media. I'd probably take legal advice too. £2k is a lot of money.

www.eastdulwichforum.co.uk/forum/read.php?29,980844
People with a similar problem.
I'd contact HMRC, i don't think they can just absorb the cash, it should have been given back to you. Don't let it drop whatever you do.

this suggests they will replace them if you write to them. I do not see how they can legally keep the money.