Refund childcare vouchers possible?

[kayakingmum]

I am currently a SAHM but I have a new job that starts at the beginning of Nov. I have a 1 year old and a 3 year old. I thought I would be able to use the Gov 30h funding for my 3 year old from Jan and as such my partner paid fees for Nov and Dec with childcare vouchers yesterday. I have since discovered the nursery will not accept the 30 h Gov funding between 8:00am - 4:00pm.
Do you think he will be able to cancel this payment from Kiddi Vouchers? If not will the nursery be able to put money back into my partner's Kiddi voucher account?

I plan to find another nursery for my DD and DS.

It would of course depend On the T&C’s Of the nursery as to whether they will refund. But it is certainly possible to refund to Kiddivouchers. It’s a pain but doable.

Why are the nursery not allocating 30h funding between 8am - 4pm? I understand that it is generally used for “core sessions” (eg 9am - 12pm and 1pm to 4pm) and the wraparound (breakfast/lunch/evening) are charged extra, so you would be eligle for 6 hours of funding per day rather than 3 days of 10 hours.

@Haroted

It would of course depend On the T&C’s Of the nursery as to whether they will refund. But it is certainly possible to refund to Kiddivouchers. It’s a pain but doable.

Why are the nursery not allocating 30h funding between 8am - 4pm? I understand that it is generally used for “core sessions” (eg 9am - 12pm and 1pm to 4pm) and the wraparound (breakfast/lunch/evening) are charged extra, so you would be eligle for 6 hours of funding per day rather than 3 days of 10 hours.

Thanks. I think they make more money with their method. I'm really cross about it. I'm also cross that they didn't make it clear I couldn't use the funded hours. I now know that a 7:30am - 6:00pm day would be cheaper than a 8:00 - 4:00 because I could use Gov funding.

Refunding is possible through childcare vouchers, but will depend on the nurserys policy. You said you have paid for Nov and Dec is your little one not attending nursery during these months? If they would normally be in and you have now given notice you would still have to pay for the notice period, if you have just signed up and this payment was a deposit and first months fees then you have likely lost this money so no refund possible. It is down to the childcare setting the days, times and if it’s term time only or spread across the year .they offer the funded hours and many do restrict it as the funded money from government is usually a lot less thaan what they charge an hour. For me it’s over a £1 less. What hours are they offering it seems strange that 8-4 is not with in any of there core hours

Yes you’ll have to pay the notice period.

Did you ask how the funded hours worked? I think if you just assumed that you'd get "free" hours between 8-4 from January then it's your mistake unfortunately and if you want to terminate your contract, the nursery will refer you to the contractual terms (where you probably have to pay for a notice period - it's usually a term).

For what it's worth, very few nurseries (other than those attached to schools or which are only open for say 9-3) offer "free" hours - so definitely worth checking that there is another local nursery which is cheaper before you give up your places at this one.

Just had the back and forth with Kiddivouchers around refunds. They initially stated that they would not offer a refund in my circumstances where we didn't spend the vouchers due to the afterschool provider being closed down in lockdown and the fact that both parents now work from home.

They changed their position on the refund when I asked what happens to the funds when my youngest reaches 15years old. My view was that if they retain those funds - but are the arbiter of the decision (i.e. there is no independent decision maker in the process of how the refund policy is applied) it is a slight conflict of interest. May be coincidence of course but hopefully this helps some others.