Why should my CM take child care vouchers? Help me to convince her.

[Eve34]

Sorry if spelling is incorrect - not one of my strongest points.

Have been looking into claiming the child care vouchers. My Child minder is ofsed registered and above board but as yet has not had vouchers before, and isn't too keen on the idea.

How suggestions to get her on board? Can I use them like cash - so that pay day is on time?

Any suggestions welcome - also need to convince my employer too... all for an extra £967 or something..... fingers crossed

Why not?

It's jsut a form & money arrives in the bank

If it doesn't arrive you have to pay anyway

Make sure you pay next months fee out of last months wage (esp if you get paid on 2Xth of the month)

They take 3-5 days to go through

dh and I get childcare vouchers-they are virtual vouchers which get credited to an account with the company that operates the scheme (Accor).
We then use them to pay directly into her bank account every month-easy for us and convenient for her, plus no late payments!

Fear of the unknown me thinks.... will get my employer on board and then just have to gentle coax her hehe.

Many thanks

I am intending to get childcare vouchers though I haven't done it yet - my employer does offer them.

I think the main thing is to make sure your childminder isn't inconvenienced, that you pay her as normal until the vouchers come through.

For your employer, they would save paying employer's NI on up to £55 a week (maximum payable).

Before you try to persuade them though, there are issues to think of. It's a salary sacrifice scheme and might affect your pension or maternity pay if you were to want more children and need maternity leave. It can affect any benefits which are calculated as a percentage of your salary which if you get the maximum amount could be up to £243 less.

The amount you save also depends on whether you're basic or higher rate taxpayer.

I did wonder, I don't suppose the Navy as your dh's employer offers childcare vouchers? You can both get them if you do.

i love being paid by vouchers i always get paid at least one wk ahead sometimes more and i dont have to walk to the bank to put it in

Given my current trouble getting paid by Accor, I can't currently recommend that provider. CatIsSleepy however says the Accor system works fine... so perhaps I'm just unlucky.

However FairCare were great, no issues at all.
So in principle childcare vouchers work well, but as others have mentioned, if the voucher company fails for whatever reason to pay the carer on time, you need to give the carer the money... not expect them to keep chasing the voucher company. Perhaps your childminder is concerned about: What If The Money Does Not Arrive On The Due Date?
If you do as KatyMac says, you should not have issues with late payments.

I used to use Busy Bees vouchers to pay nursery when dd went there. I did it by e-voucher, although I will admit that I did sometimes forget, and the nursery never picked me up on it, which would not be good with a cm.

I am now a cm and would accept vouchers if any parent asked. They are a great way for parents to save money and usually a safe way to receive money (as long as you remember to make the transfer!)

I haven't registered myself to use them as yet, but I would do if asked. I did convince a cm friend of mine to use them with one of her parents and she had no problems at all.

Alas Jura that is just part of the problem... the main problem started with the Carer registration process - as Accor didn't send out the carer pack when they received the voucher application from the parent which provided contact details of the carer.
The parents authorised the transaction on 5/2/08. It's now 8/2/08 and at 11.30pm last night, there was still no payment in my bank account - though there has been a payment notification e-mail from Accor (dated 7/2/08) - so appears that Accor may have held on to the money for 2 days (why?).
Where ever the fault lies... it is a late payment issue, which as carer should not be my problem surely?

Many thanks ladies - yes DP could apply too, didn't think of but of us getting them. CM ok in principle so just need to ensure that it goes smoothly or pay cash as normal if vouchers aren't avilable.

I don't have a pensions scheme with my current employer so have a private one, but didn't think about maternity pay next time - if there is a next time of course....this little man is more than enough right now.

Busy Bees does this too, I get a notice of remittance and money comes 2 days later. I reckon it's just a way to hold onto money! Hopefully it comes to you soon Nick.

I think you have to allow 3 days from the email date from the voucher provider, rather than from the date the parent says they authorised the transfer.
My last busy bees email came the day after the payment arrived in my account though. Usually the email arrives a couple of days before the payment.

I will take any voucher on a trial basis, but I do say that if I am not paid on time then I reserve the right to decline that particular voucher scheme. It doesn't make any difference to me if its the parents fault or the voucher provider who has made the error - the end result is the same. If I can't pay my bills on the payment due day then the voucher scheme isn't working satisfactorily.

Eve, I suggest you allow plenty of time for your authorisation to be acted upon- if you aim for your payment to arrive a couple of days ahead of your due date to allow for error on the part of the voucher provider. And I'm sure you won't forget to allow for weekends and bank holidays! Check whether he date on your receipt from your childminder is the date the payment arrived in her bank or the date she checked her statement and wrote the receipt. So you can keep a close eye on how long its actually taking from when you authorise payment to arriving in her account. Hope it works out for you.

some cm's are concerned over the paperwork to set up but tis really not a lot, ive just set up busy bees for one parent and paperwork was fine but since then its been a frickin nightemare!..dont know if its busy bees/parent/perents company??..but we're getting there, slowly but surely!..you need to ensure payment leaves your wages and it sent to cm in good time taking into acocunt weekends and b.hols other wise theyre always late!

I would also say to your CM, that if she does accept vouchers then she's maximising the range of people that might use her services in the future. Many parents now (myself included) wouldn't use a carer who couldn't/wouldn't accept the vouchers. Really it's just "progress" in the way these transactions happen - gradually moving from paying cash, to paying by cheque, to paying via internet banking - vouchers is just another payment method.

Of course if there's some hiccup with the payment, then it's the parents' responsibility to make sure the carer gets paid regardless..