I started saving Childcare Vouchers nearly 7 years ago when we had the first of our two children. I’ve amassed £1600+ in the account but we don’t really have any childcare costs (1 in school and the other fully covered by the 30hrs free).

Now I know you can use them on after school clubs/summer holiday clubs etc up until the age of 16 but when do you stop paying in? They’re currently with EdenRed who don’t allow refunds and I can’t see too many employers wanting to help recover the money. I can’t see myself spending them. What have you all done?

Can you not just reduce the monthly payment to a small value (so you don’t lose the benefit) and then use them over the summer holidays?

These type of schemes have closed now but if you are in an existing one you still get the benefit. If you stop the scheme you can only join the other government scheme – tax free childcare.

https://www.gov.uk/tax-free-childcare

We aren’t with Edenred now but you used to just log in to your account and change the monthly value.

The thing is we’re now literally paying zero out and have never used them in the school holidays so far. Will reduce to the minimum probably but wondering when to stop fully.

were with sodexo,

be careful. you can loose the money. Our vouchers have 18months after which it goes into a black hole (sodexos pocket)

I don’t think you will get the money back unfortunately. Look for other ways to use them I guess. Some of the holiday clubs can be pretty good and if you have already paid out the money it wont be lost at least. There are some like forest school which are pretty good and soccer school (yes it should be football but that isn’t what they call it!).

PGL accept them

Can you not just reduce the monthly payment to a small value (so you don’t lose the benefit) and then use them over the summer holidays?

exactly what I did.  Contributions add up to the costs of Easter  & Summer camps/schools.  We’ll stop them when they are not needed for that.

ask your employer for a refund of the vouchers?

I was in a similar situation – no longer had the need for childcare, but still had several hundred in my account with Edenred. I just asked for the balance to be refunded through my employer, so that the tax and Ni could be paid. All worked out OK.

if only i could spend them on bike bits 🙂

Daft question but why do you keep buying them if you’ve never used them?

I guess:

a) because they were taking the scheme away and it was better to be in (I had 16 years of child upbringing to do)

b) once it was set up it just went before I had it, so never really noticed it missing

Thankfully we’ve been lucky with parents helping out with childcare.

The thing is we’re now literally paying zero out and have never used them in the school holidays so far. Will reduce to the minimum probably but wondering when to stop fully.

Probably several years ago by the sounds of it.

I don’t know about EdenRed Per-se, but with ours once you’ve bought them, they’re yours, you don’t need to keep up a payment to keep them.

If you’ve no other use for them, ask your kids if they fancy a PGL trip next summer if they take them. I went on one as a kid and I still have really fond memories 30 years later.