Nursery fees

chemer

Hi! Don't know if I am writing in the right place. But Ineed an advice, please. I have got a huge nursery bill, because I have missed monthly payments for 2 times somehow. When Was given a list of installments for a whole year I set up a standing order online, I have messed it up somehow, and payments was late. Instead of once a month I somehow made it once in two months but twice So now 4 months later I have got 2 missed payments, and 2 payments that went through 113.10 each. They charge 50 for a late payment. So the whole amount for 4 months is paid and I am 120 in debt. As I need to pay only 56 a month isn't a 50 pounds late payment fee is too much? I do understand that it is completedly my fault.

OrkneyStar

chemer wrote: »

Hi! Don't know if I am writing in the right place. But Ineed an advice, please. I have got a huge nursery bill, because I have missed monthly payments for 2 times somehow. When Was given a list of installments for a whole year I set up a standing order online, I have messed it up somehow, and payments was late. Instead of once a month I somehow made it once in two months but twice So now 4 months later I have got 2 missed payments, and 2 payments that went through 113.10 each. They charge 50 for a late payment. So the whole amount for 4 months is paid and I am 120 in debt. As I need to pay only 56 a month isn't a 50 pounds late payment fee is too much? I do understand that it is completedly my fault.

Do you have a contract?
It should state late fees, and any other charges/penalties/payment terms etc on that. I think it is understandable they need to have something in place for late payment, to cover themselves, and if you have already signed a contract you cannot really say you are not happy with the terms now (not meaning this to sound harsh but this might well be how they view it!).
I am sure there might be someone else who can help and will be along soon.

Nicki

I'm guessing (maybe incorrectly) that you set the standing order to go out on 31st of each month, so your payments for September and November were actually made on 1 October and 1 December respectively, with your October and December payments going out (due to go out) on 31st as usual?

If this is correct, and you were only 1 day late with 2 payments, then I suggest you speak to the manager of the nursery and see if they will waive the two late payment charges if you change your standing order to go out on 28th of the month from now on, so that you never miss another one again.

chemer

Thank you all for your answers. To be honest contract didn't show any late fees, they were stated at the end of instalmdnts list, like a note.
I wanted my standing order to go on 5 of each month, but somehow I did 2 of them for once in two months, so instead of 4 payments of 56 I did 2 payments of 113.10. So 2 payments were at least 1 month late. But in the end I did paid that whole amount, but now I need to pay that late payment fee worth more than 2 months of nursery
But what I want to know is there any regulations about late payment fees? What if next year they decide to make it £100500 for a missed payment of £50?

spike241

If they've never mentioned any late fees and it's definitely not in the contract then I wouldn't pay it. I can't see any way they could legally make you pay, correct me if I'm wrong.

rpc

If the late fees are not in the contract, you can't be held to pay them. Particularly not £50 which is more punitive than something that represents the small admin cost of chasing the payment.

If these fees are agreed in advance (by contract, in a parents handbook, etc) then you probably have to pay them. They do sound disproportionate, but that is a matter of opinion. You can't reasonably agree to the fees and then complain when they are imposed.

If the first time that you heard about them genuinely was when they sent you the bill, they wouldn't hold up in court and you can tell them to go whistle.

However, there is the other aspect to consider that if you do not pay them you may burn this particular bridge and find yourself without a nursery place for your child.

marisco_2

I am surprised that the nursery let it get to the stage where you owed them two lots of payments. The late payment fee seems high to me. If they had mentioned to you when the first payment didn't arrive, you could have paid them immediately and rectified the issue with your bank.

The nursery does have to cover itself. They have staff to pay and upkeep and maintenance of the building to pay for. I suppose that for all they knew your late payments could signal that you might bail out on them, remove your child from the nursery and not pay up. Hence the expensive late payment fee. However they should be more on top of things and have given you a chance to put things right when a late payment first occured.

Nicki

I don't know how the standing order could have been "messed up" twice and gone out twice in the same month next month if it is due to go out on the 5th of each month! I think what happened was that on two months you were a bit short of cash, so cancelled the standing order for that month and paid the bill when you were able. In which case there is no "somehow" about it.

If it WAS a bank error though, and the bank held back a standing order for no reason (ie not because you cancelled it, and not because you had insufficient funds in your account when it was due to go out), then you can claim back the late payment fees from your bank, as you have incurred a loss due to their failure to carry out your instructions for no good reason.

Rockporkchop

Every nursery I have ever used has had a £50 late payment fee. You are lucky because they usually refuse to take the child unless the payments are up to date too.

I'm a bit confused by your explanation as it is virtually impossible to mess up a standing order in the way you describe. Surely you are talking about just making an online transfer?

Anyway I can't see them waiving the fee, although you can always ask. Or maybe they will agree for you to pay the fee in instalments if you plead with them.

Mimi_Arc_en_ciel

Every nursery that i know of has a late payment clause in their contract. I can not fathom how the Standing Order got mysteriously messed up 2 out of 4 months? Could it be that you didn't have enough fund available for the standing order to go out?

I have a separate bank account which is used purely for nursery payments.Every month (For the whole year) I mark out how much my nursery payments are and every month i transfer the funds into the other account. Never had a problem with this. Maybe this would be something that would be useful for you?

I would speak to the manager about your situation if you are struggling to pay the fee's. Are you entitled to help? (Tax credit?) Read martin's blurb about tax credits / Nursery Voucher schemes. that might help.

Double check your contract. Did you pay a deposit when your little one started nursery? They could with hold this if you refuse to pay your late payment debt.

kingfisherblue

I also cannot understand how you can 'somehow' mess up a standing order.

I can, however, understand the cost of the late fee.

Although it seems disproportionate to your current monthly fees, it will not be disproportionate to the amount paid by others. £56 a month isn't a vast amount to pay for a nursery for a month, so it sounds as though you have some hours funded (is your child over 3 years old?)

Assuming that I am correct in my above observation, imagine if someone who pays a higher amount does not pay on time. This could potentially cause problems with cash flow for the nursery. As marisco said, it could indicate that a customer does not have the money to pay, or possibly that they do not intend to pay. Yet the staff still have to be paid. The utilities, rent, council tax, etc will not wait because a parent is late paying the nursery.

I appreciate that just one customer paying late is not likely to cause many problems, but if several pay late, this could have an effect on the nursery. Not all businesses have a large pot of money to rely on in case customers pay late.

In addition, late payments can cause additional administrative tasks, which cost money. There is the cost of extra invoices, or letters to remind you that you have not paid. There could be postage if these are not handed directly to you. There are staff hours to carry out the admin tasks. Again, one late paying customer may not be much of a problem, but several can be a nightmare, especially for a small business.

The late payment fee is there to cover any costs, and setting it at a high amount means that few will not be on time with their payment. It is designed to deter you from paying late.