Question about childcare vouchers post 2018

[dodi1978]

Hi,

this is our situation.

DS 2 just started nursery. All of the fees paid via salary sacrifice from my salary as he is at my workplace nursery so we have never used childcare vouchers so far. He will be at nursery for another 4 years (September born).

DS1 will start reception in the autumn. We will pay for the after school club with childcare vouchers. We are planning to use my husband's salary for this as it seems financially more beneficial for us. We need vouchers for about £200 a month. The £243 max. covers this easily, even if at some point we also need some holiday childcare.

The problem is...

In four years time, DS2 will start school, and both will need after school childcare, so the costs are likely to be about double. As childcare vouchers won't accept new 'entrants' after April 2018, should we therefore start sacrificing a small amount from my salary now in order to ensure I am also signed up before the deadline?

An added complication is that my husband's company and mine use two different childcare voucher providers. Any ideas / advice?

If you are sure you are better off on vouchers then yes, join your scheme and sacrifice a small amount.

The new scheme is a complete shower of shit - the delays and misinformation from HMRC if enough to drive you to drink.

Using two different voucher schemes is fine, just divide the bill up between them, your childcare provider will be used to it.

Thanks for the answers.

Yes, we'll definitely be better off on vouchers. Good to know that it is possible to divide the bill between two providers.
One last questions - is it possible to vary the value of vouchers purchased. For example, we regularly purchase £200, but then realise we need a bit more for an after school club - can we up the amount and then lower it again a few months later?

You can only change the amount once a year in the scheme I'm in, so maybe overpay slightly every month to cover the expensive months?

With mine I was claiming the maximum amount, which was far more than we needed. I asked to stop paying into it, as it was about £2k in credit, but they still deducted it from my pay and not crediting it to my account, so had to chase them and my employer for a refund. You really have to keep on top of the childcare vouchers, as everyone involved with them don't seem to have a clue what they're doing.

I think it depends on your employer, I could change the amount every month if I wanted. I've just worked out how much I need in total for the year and averaged it out per month though so I always know what I'm getting paid.