Tax free childcare-has this happened to anyone? Help

[Newyearnewus]

Losing the will to live with this one so any help appreciated….

I’ve had a tax free childcare account for the past year to pay for my son’s childminder. All fine. He’s recently started a nursery so I added them to my account so I could also pay them. For whatever reason, as I was about to make the first payment my account froze and they said the answers to my security questions were wrong (they weren’t!) This was the start of hours of back and forth and being on hold.

First, they said they couldn’t authorise me on the phone so I’ve had to send off proof of identity documentation recorded delivery, that cost me £8. They returned my documents with no follow up info. I then called to chase, apparently my documents were approved. Brilliant! They now need to send me a code via email to unblock my account. They’ve apparently sent 2 separate codes and low behold I’ve not received them.

I’ve now to wait another 48 hours to call back and they log it with their technical team. No idea what that will involve or how long it will take. All the while the money is sat there and I can’t access it. My nursery is also on my back (quite rightly) as they haven’t been paid. I’ve explained what’s happening but quite frankly it’s embarrassing and stressful.

Has this happened to anyone else? How will this get resolved?

Not much advice to give but some ideas on how to ensure you receive the emails or texts you need to reset your own password on your account. This password reset process unlocks your account so your payment can be processed.

Check your spam folder. The email should have come through to you almost immediately so check all folders around the time of your phone calls.

If the code emails are not there they may have got the email address for you wrong. Ask them to send the code by text to your mobile - but make sure they have the correct mobile number first. You can stay on the line so you can confirm you have received the email or text.

You'll need to check the payment is still setup once you get access again. You may need to change the date to today's/ tomorrow's date so it goes through to the nursery.

Hope you get it sorted soon.

You will likely have to pay the nursery if this isn’t sorted quickly unfortunately.