Debt Recovery - Nursery Fees

kazzaj

I have a problem with nursery fees and would appreciate some advice. My daughter goes to nursery three days a week while I go to work. Last year we had some serious money problems which have now been resolved, however, I missed some payments to nursery. I thought I owed about ten weeks, my head was everywhere, and I have now got a nursery bill for £3000. I was really shocked that it had got so high as when she started there, I was told that I would be issued with a reminder if payments had not been received for 5 weeks. I am trying to get some sort of loan to pay it off but my credit rating is dreadful, so this is hard. They are now threatening me with a debt recovery company. I have no idea what this means - but it sounds like "I will send the heavies round". Has anyone any advice on the type of people this is likely to have been referred to and what my rights are (if any). I am currently making my weekly payments to the nursery to ensure the debt does not get any bigger.
Help Please???

kickingkay

Hi i dont think ive ever come across a nursery doing that blimey have they sent you a complete invoice for the amount they state you owe them i know its embarressing at times to query it but i have a childminder and she gets im skint so she breaks things up for me (she is another plastic aholic)
that would be my first move
when you have received it be ruthless if it is all correct, discuss with their manager a means of paying it obviously you dont want to take out a loan for this as you will incure interest on it
does your child still go to this nursery, that doesnt mean run and hide refuse to pay etc are they still happy to take your child and the other thing that strikes me 10 = £3000 thats a hell of alot to pay a nursery i know different areas charges etc have you tried WFTC to see if yoiu are entitled to childcare cost
hth
klare xx

newmum1

£300 seems extremely high especially each week and part time at that. I think that you need to query the bill look at all the dates and check receipts for any payments that you made during that period because although i dont know the ins and outs it looks incorrect. double check everything.

mountainofdebt

Obviously you need to get this sorted out but you need to be confident that you do actually owe them this money so I guess my first action would be to ask the nursery for a statement of account, preferably from the very beginning so that you can agree with them the figures - at least that way you are demonstrating that you want to get this matter sorted out.

Once you get this statement don't think that they are automatically correct -go through your bank statements to check that all the payments that have been made to the nursery have been allocated to your account.

Then once you have done this you can either agree the figure with the nursery or you can dispute the amount and you will already have the evidence to hand.

If you do agree the amount then I would be tempted to speak to the manager of the nursery and agree a repayment plan although make it realistic though. I'm sure that if you get them to agree to a replayment plan, you stick to this proposal

I do agree though that £300 a week (or £100 a day!) seems an awful lot of money so I would also definitely check that you are claiming everything you are entitled to as far as childcare costs are concerned. I would also check that you are not being billed for a full week

(btw how old is your daughter .....or put it another way, how much longer until you get a £1200 a month payrise?!!!)

mountainofdebt

Also - have you read martin's article on childcare vouchers.....see the home page!

brummiebabe

I had a similar problem with my previous nursery - sending me a bill for over £1000 (although I paid regularly EVERY payday for the whole month ahead!!!) Needless to say we now use a diffferent one!

I asked for a full statement of my account (which I eventually got) and went through it with a fine toothcomb, checking it against bank statements/cheque books. Eventually got them to agree that I was actually in CREDIT by around £45!!

Get a statement from them asap. What is the daily childcare fee? Do they charge you interest etc if you're in arrears? (check your contract with them!) Speak to them though, don't assume you DO owe this amount!

Angela_D_3

You're lucky they are still letting you take her to the nursery if you owe that much.
We are a few weeks behind with school fees and they are threatening to stop us bringing the children, imagine explaining that to your five year old.