Private nursery threatening with court

PinkKiwi

My job suddenly ended without notice so I took my son out of nursery as I no longer needed childcare. The nursery said that they needed a months notice before I took my son out but even if I had known my employment was ending I would've only been able to give a weeks notice as I was weekly paid. How is it possible to know a month in advance and also why should I pay that month when I was out of work without any money coming in?

The next thing is they sent me an outstanding statement which came to almost £1500. This meant I would've had to have not paid my sons childcare for more than 8 weeks. The nursery finally admitted it was a mistake and adjusted the amount. But they couldn't show where the new figure had come from. After repeated emails they finally sent a breakdown and the figure came to just below 500.

My tax credits have been stopped for weeks due to the change of circumstances so I have really struggled. My rent and other things have been missed a few times just so that we can live on the money we do have. The nursery has now given me until next week to pay them which I have told them is obviously impossible and without tax credits is even more impossible. I'm not even sure if tax credits will pay their percentage of what is owed I very much doubt they will.

The nursery have now threatened us with court. But what is really annoying me at the minute is that every nursery in the area says you have to pay for childcare even if your child doesn't attend so on the bank holidays this year not only was I paying them for not being open (their choice not mine) I also had to pay for alternative childcare which meant I worked for less than nothing on those days. We signed a contract apparently (I can't remember signing anything about bank holidays but they are sending a copy out to me) but obviously as all nurseries are the same we had no choice to sign (if we did) as we wouldn't have been able to work.

I signed a form stating that I preferred my son not to be taken off the premises but they breached this by taking him out and about against my will. Do I not have rights there? Even though I have no proof?

What happens with court? Is it a small claims court and would we have to pay the amount in full or installments. I've never been to court before so I have no idea what to expect and I really don't need this right now due to other problems. Any advice would be appreciated.

somethingcorporate

What does your contract say? if you agreed to a months notice then you will need to pay for the final month.

I am sure someone with more experience of the court process will be along shortly.

Valli

1 - when you signed up to the nursery you must have signed a contract and their T&Cs would have included warning of the month's notice. Standard T&C's unfortunately.

Best to avoid being taken to small claims if possible. Why not WRITE to them explaining your circumstances and ask to pay in installments before being ordered to by the court? Contact CAB for specific advice on this.

2 Don't fog the issue by being petulant and coming up with side issues eg son being taken off the premises. This is a separate issue, and should have been dealt with as soon as you were aware of it. Did you say your child COULD NOT be taken off the premises and he was? If you DID NOT give permission this is a serious breach. You could report your concerns to the Local Authority or Ofsted.

3 Can't comment knowledgeably about the Bank Holiday thing. Best Guess though - I would have thought, if they CHOOSE to close they can't charge. So that would be unfair terms & conditions (may be worth contact Trading Standards about that one)

marywooyeah

when you signed the nursery contract you would have agreed to give a months notice and be liable for the fees for that period.

you say "without tax credits" its impossible, but tax credits carry on paying the money for 4 weeks when you ring up and say that he's no longer in childcare - this would cover the 4 weeks fees you owe them. If you get paid it weekly, just go in once a week and give them the money when you get paid it.

PinkKiwi

Thanks for your replies. We were never given a copy of any contract, I certainly didn't sign anything apart from the other forms for my sons needs and what I allow them to do. I'm not sure if my partner signed the contract as my work hours meant I wasn't able to take my son to school in the beginning. I'm looking forward to seeing the contract though.

When they told me they had taken my son outside I brought the issue up but they just said they didn't know, they lost things that I took in for him such as expensive sun creams, nappies, he came home with someone elses shoes on one day even though his own had his name in. They never labelled anything to ensure there wasn't any mix ups. But aside from that my biggest concern was one member of staff taking 6 toddlers outside near busy roads including my son when I signed the form. They were also using milk crates as toys in the garden, I went to pick my son up one day to find him standing on stacked milk crates only for him to fall backwards grazing his back on the floor. They just laughed and picked him up just as I was walking over. I will speak to Ofsted and Trading standards also about the bank holiday issue thank you

PinkKiwi

marywooyeah wrote: »

when you signed the nursery contract you would have agreed to give a months notice and be liable for the fees for that period.

you say "without tax credits" its impossible, but tax credits carry on paying the money for 4 weeks when you ring up and say that he's no longer in childcare - this would cover the 4 weeks fees you owe them. If you get paid it weekly, just go in once a week and give them the money when you get paid it.

I didn't know this thanks mary. I'm hoping tax credits reinstate everything soon then I know where I stand.

Quentin

If there is a contract in existence that your partner signed, then it is he who they should be threatening, not you!

Valli

TBH If I had had that many concerns I would have found alternative childcare, sharpish.

PinkKiwi

Luckily he was only in nursery for a couple of months and the problems only started to happen towards the latter weeks but the Ofsted report shown this to be one of the best nurseries in the area.

somethingcorporate

I have heard of that bank holiday thing before, I am sure there has been a couple of threads in the praise, vent and warnings forum a while back. Seems fairly standard practice although I am not sure I agree it is fair!

Aquatronixjenny

It is standard practise to charge for bank holidays. Its usually in the contract so have a check through that when they provide it. I have never heard of a nursery that doesn't charge for bank holidays.

With regards to the other problems you have experienced, these have no relevance to the fact that you needed to give a months notice so please do not use these in a defence to the court as they will just dismiss it. It is a completely seperate matter and something that you need to bring up with OFSTED.

The nursery that my daughter goes to requires 2 full months notice so 1 month seems to be fairly good. They need to fill the space as they have staff to pay. Are you self employed? If your job ended without any notice then I think its something you should be taking up with your employer as I'm pretty sure there will be a minimum notice period?