Childcare Vouchers

[stoofur]

Does anybody else use the Childcare Voucher scheme through there work? My better half is going to be returning to work in September and we need to pay for two and a half days of Childcare. Is the Voucher scheme worth it? It is easy to use? What happens if for example we set aside £200 in the voucher scheme per month and it turns out we only needed £190. What happens to the surplus money?

Have to say we both feel a bit guilty sending our daughter into Childcare but we gotta pay the bills somehow.

[black_cat51]

if you don't spend it all, the money just stays in the childcare account, but as far as i know you can use it up until they are 16. This means that if you need holiday clubs and stuff when they've gone to school, you can still use it then. Personally i would get the full allowance of £243 each month if were you and start getting it now so you build up some credit. it's really easy to administarte (online). Just check that whoever you are planning to have childcare with accepts the vouchers. Some workplaces lock you in for the whole financial year and only allow changes in amounts at year end (mine will let you change it every month) If your wife also gets any when she's back at work, take care if you have another child as SMP is calculted on your pay, and as the vouchers come out before tax, it takes the overal pay amount that is taken ito account down

[stoofur]

I am sure I put this answer in this question a few days ago. But it looks like I put it against a different question. Sorry about that. "Thank you Black Cat. I didn't realise it can be used for other things. I was worried that if we didn't use it then we would lose it."