‘It’s horrendous – HMRC must owe us £200’
KRIS and Clare Drummond have been trying to sign up for the new tax-free childcare scheme since April.
Their daughter Sophie is 23 months old and they pay £350 a month in nursery fees.
The new scheme should entitle them to a 20 per cent top-up on the money put aside to cover this, but the couple from Gateshead, Tyne and Wear, can’t claim the cash because they can’t access the account.
The problems started when Kris, 32, made a mistake with his application, inputting the wrong National Insurance number. Whenever Clare, 25, tried to log on to the website it wouldn’t work, citing a technical issue.
Finally, in June, their application was accepted. But two months later they are still unable to pay money into the account. Each time Kris complains he is promised a call back, but has never received one.
Kris, a restaurant manager, said: ‘It’s horrendous. They must owe us £200. It’s not a lot of money each month but it would at least cover a good grocery shop.’ HMRC said it was investigating.
Helen Daykin applied for 30 hours of free childcare for her three-year-old daughter, Iris, at the beginning of July.
On August 2, she was told her claim had been rejected because there was no evidence she was working. Helen, 2, a technology consultant from Halifax, said: ‘I only set up my own company in March and so haven’t had to file any accounts yet. The system is not fit for purpose.’
Since Money Mail contacted HMRC, Helen’s claim has been approved.