Nursery scamming me please help!!!

sn09

Hi can someone help me? Im a student nurse with big probs!
My previous nursery went into liquidation and opened up same company in new name without informing me. I paid all my nursery fees by way of childcare vouchers at the start of the month, 5 days before went into liquidation.
The nursery are now taking me to court to recover money in the new name and have dissregarded all money paid to liquidated company. Once i found out they had gone into liquidation i removed my child immediately as all trust had gone so the nursery are also trying to recover 4 weeks notice as stated in my terms and conditions of liquidated company. New terms were not issued under new company name
Surely a court would not rule in her favour???

g_attrill

Have you spoken to their accountant about what might happen to the vouchers given? They might not be able to cash them in so you might be able to get them re-issued. Otherwise you will be a creditor, the accountant might be able to tell you how it works with vouchers.

On the contract situation - yes I can't see how the new company can enforce those terms, they are trying it on. Do you know of any other parents in the same situation? It would be helpful to act together.

sn09

Hi thanks for your reply.

The owner kept the liquidation very quiet so I know of no others in my situation. I only found out after she demanded repayment for one of the vouchers. It is the providers responsibility to notify the voucher scheme of any changes in accounts. The money was sent to her frozen bank account and understandably due to the liquidation that bank refuse to pay it back. The provider is stating I owe 1200.00 as all fees I paid went into the liquidated company therefor I should pay her again as it is the new company who provided childcare. I received a court summons this morning 2 days before xmas I cant believe it im a student nurse and could not pay again if i wanted too which i dont!!!

Tixy

Not expert on this but you need to put in a claim against the liquidated company as you are a creditor of that company. That said you probably won't get much of the money back. But I would still do it to support this other case.

Did they send a letter to inform you that your child was now in the care of a different limited company? If not then it is reasonable for you to say you had no knowledge that your child was attending a nursery owned by this company and therefore have not contract with them and do not believe you owe them any money.

Might be worth you speaking to CAB or possibly speaking to a solicitor (who often give an hours advice for free).

pepe2008

I would ring the Local papers and get them to come round and take a picture of you with sad looking kiddie and tell them all about it:D

What is it with Nursery and Old Peoples Home owners? So many crooks involved in those businesses ( and a lot of good people too though)

beanielou

Spot on as usual Pepe.

g_attrill

Oh you've had court paperwork? It should be a slam-dunk case, but you need to make sure that the defence you file is fairly detailed - so list all relevant dates, eg. when your child started, when your payments are normally made, when you made the last payment, when you became aware of the liquidation, when they demanded the fees (probably the same date) etc. At worst, you are liable for the costs of childcare from the previous company was liquidated until the time you removed them, possibly not even that.

You don't really have anything to lose by filing a defence, they can't claim any legal costs, just the court fees.

The local paper idea is very good - it might bring other cases to light, I can't imagine you are the only one.

fuzzybear01

sn09 wrote: »

Hi thanks for your reply.

The owner kept the liquidation very quiet so I know of no others in my situation. I only found out after she demanded repayment for one of the vouchers. It is the providers responsibility to notify the voucher scheme of any changes in accounts. The money was sent to her frozen bank account and understandably due to the liquidation that bank refuse to pay it back. The provider is stating I owe 1200.00 as all fees I paid went into the liquidated company therefor I should pay her again as it is the new company who provided childcare. I received a court summons this morning 2 days before xmas I cant believe it im a student nurse and could not pay again if i wanted too which i dont!!!

I know that this doesn't really help your current situation but there is a really good forum for student nurses at https://www.studentnurse.org.uk

property.advert

I think they would have to establish you had a contract with the new company. Then there is the timing which the OP has not published. Was care continuous ? Difficult to see with the current information.

The OP should check with the voucher provider to see whether they have or will be cashed. If not, then the OP may be able to get them reissued.

That it seems to have reached the "going to court" stage then obviously quite some time has passed and I wonder if the new company has been caring for the child without payment ? There could be an implied contract there, even if nothing was signed. More information needed.

Butti

Sn09,
I think they have breached their contract with you by going into liquidation. By doing that they have breached first.
We moved to a new contractor earlier in the year on a building contract and claimed against the original company because by going into liquidation they cannot fulfill their part of the contract and therefore you are under no obligation to pay them any monies.

Unfortunately any money / vouchers you have paid them tend to get swallowed up in administrative/ legal fees, so you will have seen the last of those. As far as paying again for things you have already paid for, I'm not so sure. But I think if you pay again you may be treating that company as a preferential creditor which you are not allowed to do.

I've read your case back again and I'm almost certain they have breached the contract by going into liquidation. If they do that it then leaves you free to set up a new contract with a new supplier. If you want me to have a bit of a dig for details I will but i would say don't worry.

Do check this out with Citizen's advice as in my case we were dealing with construction.

B

Butti

Sn09

I want you to stop panicking and to see Citizen's Advice.

In contract law the nursery make you an offer (looking after your child safely for x hours per week) and you accept that offer. From that point on there are certain obligations for both of you under common law and contract law. Your obligation is to pay them. You have fulfilled your obligation. They have breached the contract by going into liquidation. The fact that they have breached I believe gives you a right to claim against them NOT the other way round.

Print this off and take it to Citizen's Advice.....and try to have a lovely Christmas.

(Right my red cabbage has cooked so I really must go to bed!)

B