Government childcare top up scheme

[Willow4987]

Hi

After some advice as calling the helpline has got me precisely no where

I’ve set up a standing order to go to the childcare 20% top up account for nursery fees

But it keeps bouncing back

The sort code and account number are correct and in the correct boxes

The 13 digit reference number I’ve put in the account name box - is this wrong?!

It’s the only thing I can think of as the helpline say the numbers are all correct and washed their hands of it. Saying it’s a bank issue (funny that it’s only this standing order I have an issue with though!)

[Willow4987]

@rottiemum88 thanks! We didn’t get a letter so will see what the account says online and try that also

[SKMCR]

Did it work? Any faster payment that bounces back (including standing orders as they are a faster payment) will have a 4 digit reference if its been bounced back. That code will help you understand who is rejecting it.

When paying something like this you must put correct reference in reference field so it gets routed to right account. You can then infact put anything as the account holder name (or beneficiary accs name as these aren't checked). At the moment, its the sort code, account number and reference that routes it to correct account not beneficiary name.

[Willow4987]

@SKMCR oh I didn’t know that about the 4 digit code! That’s worth knowing

It’s not gone yet as it doesn’t go until the 25th of every month and I’ve manually done this months already

[Cat2oo4]

Did you get this sorted? The exact same thing is happening to me! Even a one off payment is bouncing back now for some reason!

[Elprincesso]

@Willow4987 @Cat2oo4 I know exactly what you mean as just trying to set my first payment to my government account up (& it wasn't easy setting up that account either due to having too many government gateway ID's!!). My bank Natwest has a new security system whereby they want you to put the 'Payee Name' in exactly as the Payee has it set up so it should be the name the Government has given their account....so if I were to be setting up a payment to my water provider it'd be 'Anglian Water'....Unfortunately the Government hasn't given the name of the account with their details but obvs having the account number & sort code & your unique ref is perfectly fine, it's just that some banks like Natwest have now enhanced their security verification by asking for & confirming the name to try & help stop people being scammed. I couldn't find anything under Natwests' list of popular payees so I used 'HM Government Tax-free Childcare Acc', which it couldn't confirm. When it set the payment up though it has now found the Payee as 'Ns&i' - National Savings & Investments, who knew?!?! Why they can't just put it in their details??!
But I knew what you meant as I was googling it to find an answer hence decided to set up a mumsnet account just so I could help you & others!

[SandyPark]

I'm with First Direct and get bounce backs if i use anything in the account name, my name, kids name, nursery, HMRC, TFCC, anything.

NeedAnExpert.... Nice username, lol. What a bell.

[Elprincesso]

@SandyPark Per my post above use Ns&i as the account name - I had the same problem but Natwest let me set it up anyway but when it confirmed all the details it had located their account number & sort code as being under the account name 'Ns&i' (national savings & investments)... This was just a couple of weeks ago so should work for you...

[clairemarie2702]

I’ve just tried the NS&i and it wouldn’t work, I’m with Barclays

[Lennett]

Does anyone have any other suggestions for this or will I just have to live with setting up a direct debit? I tried Ns&i in the name on Nationwide and no luck, I've timed out the checker twice trying all sorts. How can this be so difficult?!?!

[Lennett]

Kind of in reply to my own post (after nearly two hours of trying to sort this) I have just seen that you if you scroll all the way down then you can still hit 'continue' even if your payee isn't recognised...

By the looks of Google it seems like a lot of people have searched this question.

[Horehound]

Jeez @Willow4987 you got some shitty replies didn't you?! But what you're saying is true. They haven't included their bank account name in the details.
It is not correct to just out in your child's name or nursery name etc it's a business bank account!
I have have sent them feedback to tell them. I just wrote in "national savings and investments" and proceeded past my banks warning that the details couldn't be confirmed.

[mamalife]

Always helpful when you ask for advice and get grief

I had the exact same problem, twice my payment bounced back after trying 2 account names, granted they were guesses as the details aren't given for this only sort code and account number, 3rd time lucky it went through using my name as the account holder, I guess it is our account as the parent/caregiver afterall so makes sense but would be easier if they just told you what to put in the first place.

Hope this helps anyone else having issues.

[Horehound]

I don't think it is our account. We transfer it to one bank account that we will all use and they will allocate the funds using our unique reference number.
But good that it worked. Hopefully they will update their info so no one else has the issue

[mamalife]

Is it really, learn something new every day...
Good luck to everyone else.

[FWIW20]

@willow4987 did you ever work this out? I'm having the same problem I think, now that digital banking apps need to match the actual account name holder for security reasons. There's nothing on the gov website of course

[DappledThings]

I just have mine set up as a saved payee on my banking app. One as GOVT CHILDCARE [DS NAME] and one as GOVT CHILDCARE [DD NAME]. I do individual payments because the amount is different each month but it takes me 2 minutes and appears in the government account in a couple of hours for onward transfer.

Never had it bounce back. Maybe it's only an issue with standing orders.

[Willow4987]

@FWIW20 I’ve put nursery in the name of the account holder and then the really long number/letter reference in the payment reference box on the standing order. It’s working now

[CallMeThePooPatrol]

Yep, I'm having the exact issue! Paying from Nationwide, it needs the exact "business name". Ive tried gov.uk, tax free childcare, TCS, the childcare service...nothing works!!

[boredofnamechanges]

Just had the exact same issue. Wasted almost an hour of my life on online help chat with HSBC, who also require "company name" as well as sortcode and account number. I actually pasted the URL to this topic into the chatbox and asked them to escalate to try and solve, as after 45 mins of screen sharing with the help person, we still failed to solve it.

The help person did however discover that that sort code does indeed belong to NS&I. However, typing NS&I, or "national savings and investments" into "company name" was not accepted by the HSBC website.

I was tempted to use one of the multiple HMRC accounts (I have the impression the "cumberbold" [sp?] one is the catch all, but at this time, with the civil service in corona meltdown, I really didnt fancy giving myself another time sap job in a month's time of trying to track down my money and get it back, if it ended up in the wrong account.

So I'm going to have to just pay into the tax free account with my card and try and remember to do so every month. (Oh and do an extra hour of work tonight to catch up on the lost hour I spent trying to sort this crap out).

If anyone comes up with a solution, please please post!!

[Willow4987]

@boredofnamechanges it’s definitely not straight forward at all! Especially when different banks seem to have different things they will accept in this box. Halifax just accept ‘nursery’ but it seems
So strange that HMRC don’t just give us the bank acct name they want us all to put in when they send the bank acct numbers etc

[CallMeThePooPatrol]

We found a solution! Try “Tax Free Childcare” or “TFC”. Hope it works :)

[boredofnamechanges]

hey @CallMeThePooPatrol, HSBC suggested i try that, but no luck in their system!
This is mainly the gov's fault. Incredible really that this has been going on for months. All it would tax is for someone to edit a page on their website to give the name of the account.
Actually, maybe it's not so incredible, given where we find ourselves right now

[Ceri1984]

Hello, I have had the same problem and incase this helps here is what I encountered and how I proceeded with setting up a Standing Order to my tax-free childcare account.

The information given through the tax-free childcare account doesn't give you a 'Business Name'. When setting up a Standing Order with your bank (I use Nationwide) it appears at first that you can't proceed without a correct name however this isn't the case.

You can write anything you want in the 'Business Name' box. Nationwide will require you to click the 'Check Payee Details' button which will prompt an error message. You can ignore this and scroll down the page to the 'Continue' button which allows you to carry on to the next step.

If you've already tried a few names then you will have to wait 10 minutes to do this again. The name you use as a 'Business Name' becomes the description in your list of Standing Orders so I'd recommend using either 'Tax-free Childcare' or the name of your nursery.

Good luck to anyone trying to set this up, I hope the above works for you.

[BanksyDJ]

I’ve just created a Mum’snet account too after looking everywhere for this information and then finding this thread!

I’m still having issues with NatWest and have ended up putting my child’s name in the account name. As I don’t want to lose all my money (and because you ignore the warning it becomes your fault), I’ve done a test amount to the TFC account in the hope to see it get there before I move I the rest in. Does anyone know how long it takes to show in the transactions for the tfc account and in the clearer funds balance especially? They say 2-24hours but everyone says that and it’s usually immediate for other transactions for me.

[Lelly0503]

I’m having the same issue! I’m with HSBC and the payee name has to be associated with the bank details, I’ve tried everyone’s suggestions so far but no luck! It’s so annoying! I’m