Shambles has cost me £452
MOTHER-of two Tina Haigh, 38, is £ 52 out of pocket after being unable to access HMRC’s website to pay for childcare.
The administrator, from Barking, East London, had to find extra money for the fees or risk a fine for late payment. She has spent hours on the phone to customer services but has been ‘fobbed off’ and promised help which never materialises.
Mrs Haigh said the ‘incredibly stressful’ situation has ‘ruined’ her half-term, leaving her with less money for other expenses.
‘I’m just horrified they have put parents in this position and aren’t taking responsibility by acknowledging the shambles that it has been,’ she said. ‘They have our money and either won’t or can’t give it back.’
Mrs Haigh and her husband Nick, 2, who works in retail, signed up for the programme in March and set up two accounts to pay the nursery fees for son Jay, three, and childminder costs for daughter, Aimee, six.
On May 15, Mrs Haigh paid in all the childcare fees for the month but she was unable to log in for eight days.
She said agents promised her four times that the payments would be made to the nursery but nothing happened.
Eventually, Mrs Haigh gave up and paid the nursery and childminder herself, meaning she has paid £ 52 extra.