Childminder not being paid, constant excuses, advice required

mrbrightside842

Did she get in touch today?

choccymoose

Hi, I support Childminders in my local authority, is your wife aware that if she has her insurance with either Morton Michel or NCMA (the 2 main childminder insurance companies) they both operate 24 hour legal help lines for instances like this. alternatively if she blongs to a local childminding group they may also operate a helpline.

she also needs to start being firm, and saying no money no childcare, it isn't going to hurt if she leaves as she isn't paing anyway then your insurance company wil chase her for the arrears

hth

DVardysShadow

choille wrote: »

Personally I wouldn't give her a months notice as she'll clear off & find someone else.

On Monday issue her with a bill & at the bottom of the bill type If this bill is not paid in full within 7 days then a late paymant charge will be added.
Hand her this bill. If after 7 days she has not paid this bill then send another via recorded delivery with final fee note written in red across the envelope.

Type the bill in red headings & at the bottom type this is a final late payment bill. Add the late payment charge - say £45 or a percent of the total bill to the outstanding amount.
Type in red at the bottom if this bill is not fully paid within 7 days I will attempt to recover this debt & you will be liable for any expense that this incurs.

Then enclose a copy of what a person needs to do who is summoned to a small claims court - you should be able to download that page from the court website.

Next - Sort out between yourselves a standard practice of billing. When you expect people to pay - what you will do if they don't - keep things professional whether or not you feel sorry for someone.
Have a standard letter on the PC that has a terms section - ie This bill needs paying in full within 14 days - whatever.

Keep a professional standard & stick to it - people often respect you more if you have things on a formal footing right from day one.
All the best.

I can go along with everything here except late payment charges. There is no legal basis to apply them - it is not in the contract and it does not equate to any provable loss. £45 is just a random figure plucked from the sky - or from an internet forum. It is in effect a penalty charge and others on these forums are fighting to get the banks' penalty charges overturned. If this was to go down the small claims route, late payment charges would make the child minder look bad

warehouse

A big thank you to everyone who replied. My wife has read them all, and also joined a child minders forum to post something similar there. Here's what's happened since.

The mother didn't turn up with any money, but sent a text instead. Her "ex" turned up with some cash that should have been paid to the mother as maintenance for the child, but between them they decided it was best to pay a little bit more money towards the outstanding bill. There is still money outstanding from September and nothing paid yet for October. The total outstanding is still well over £1000.

This morning my wife rang the 24 hour hotline for the childminders insurance people, they informed her that she is quite within her rights to stop caring for the child right now. They also informed her that they will chase the mother for the money if my wife asks them to. They advised her to play hardball in this situation.

Tomorrow morning my wife will be giving the mother a letter stating the outstanding amount and saying that if the money isn't paid in full by Friday then she is withdrawing her services as from Monday 9th November. It will also say that legal procedings will be taken to recover the money if required, and that any future care of the child will mean money being paid in advance.

I'll keep you informed.

Valli

Thanks for the update. Bet your wife feels a lot better knowing she has the insurance behind her...

The problem with childminding and similar services as that people can easily feel they are informal. Well they're not; it's what your wife does to earn a living and as such she must comply with regulations and provide a service to a certain level.
Hope, if it's NOT paid, she gets another customer soon.

warehouse

Valli wrote: »

Thanks for the update. Bet your wife feels a lot better knowing she has the insurance behind her...

The problem with childminding and similar services as that people can easily feel they are informal. Well they're not; it's what your wife does to earn a living and as such she must comply with regulations and provide a service to a certain level.
Hope, if it's NOT paid, she gets another customer soon.

The one thing to come out of this on a positive note is exactly what you've said. I's a business, but because of the child it becomes a lot more personal, and people can take advantage of that if you give them a inch. She's learned a huge lesson with this and won't be taken advantage of again.

choille

Hi Warehouse - Good for you both.

We run our own business & there are lessons to be learned & when you've learned on another comes along.

We started off believing that people would pay, especially those people we knew - doesn't always work that way.
You have to have a contract & set template bills with terms & conditions. I do think that putting things on a formal footing makes people less liable to let things slide, but it still does occasionally.
It is great that you are now talking with others in the same position.
All the best.
Btw - when I have written imposing a late payment charge people usually cough up, but without the late paymant charge, but at least it makes them pay. recorded delivery letters seem to get a response & you do need to send stuff that way so you have a record of trying to get payment if you need to take things further.

isplumm

DVardysShadow wrote: »

I can go along with everything here except late payment charges. There is no legal basis to apply them - it is not in the contract and it does not equate to any provable loss. £45 is just a random figure plucked from the sky - or from an internet forum. It is in effect a penalty charge and others on these forums are fighting to get the banks' penalty charges overturned. If this was to go down the small claims route, late payment charges would make the child minder look bad

I agree you couldn't charge a penalty clause .... but what about interest? Could she say that unless paid within certain amount, will start adding interest at x%?

Mark

DVardysShadow

isplumm wrote: »

I agree you couldn't charge a penalty clause .... but what about interest? Could she say that unless paid within certain amount, will start adding interest at x%?

Mark

Could do it. I believe you can claim a percentage above base rate if you take it to the small claims court, even if you don't make a charge now. But firstly, to try and slap it on now is actually to change the contract retrospectively, best to stay squeaky clean. Secondly, the rate is probably hardly threatening if the woman has maxed her CC.

warehouse

My wife simply wants what's owed. Neither of us believe in penalty charges or interest claims. That's just being greedy in our opinions.