Help - Nursery taking court action

karmaamelia

Hello

My sister in law requires some advice and I don't really know where to go with it. She was in work and her daughter was in nursery. Out of the blue she was sackedicon from the small company she worked for as she worked part time and they wanted someone to do full time. Therefore she had to take her daughter out of nursery. Speaking with the manager of the nursery she explained she is in financial hardship and on the verge of losing her house and having just been sacked did not have the finances to keep her daughter in nursery (£300 a month). The manager said that she had to pay and give 4 weeks notice which is in her terms and conditions. Although my SIL appreciates this it was a case of not physically having this money - you can't give what you haven't got. The manager just said, 'tough you have to pay' and then went on to say as it was the 8th of the month not the start of the month that she would have to pay the remainder of the month plus the following month so that it was a full months notice. This is clearly pathetic and cruel having just disclosed problems with finances.

This was 8 weeks ago. My SIL has since been out of work, has had to sell her house and could not afford the home they had moved into to save money and were renting. Her partner does work but they have got other debts looming over their heads due to the tenant at the house they owned stopped paying the rent and then would not move out so they had to pay their mortgageicon too for 6 months before they could sell it. They have now had to move with their 2 kids into their parents house.

She has had a letter at the old house delivered and it appears to be a court 'claim formicon' one of these £35 fee ones claiming for the entire month that the daughter was taken out of nursery.

I know that their T&C states need to give 4 weeks notice, but she was not in nursery during this time, they were told that she was going through financial difficulties and yet they were not happy to come to any kind of agreement and want her to pay the full amount. They would not even engage in any other discussion other than 'you have to pay' and 'you might even have to pay 2 months worth' Does she have any rights? does she have to pay this money? Can the nursery enforce their T&C?

Even if my SIL was taken to court and ordered to pay the money, she does not have £300 and it would take her a while to save this up. So what would happen here?

Please someone help

double_mummy

yes they can do this she agreed to it

she will be able to repay in installments if it goes to court

did she offer to pay anything or did she just say no i cant pay and left it at that? has she been in contact with them at all since the initial conversation?

karmaamelia

She offered to pay £70 which is all she had. They would not discuss instalments which would have been a more possible option.

They have not contacted her since

tomtontom

She should contact them and arrange a repayment plan - best to do it now before more costs are added.

karmaamelia

Is she protected by any rights to offer a payment plan instead of full upfront payment? As this was refused to even be discussed at the initial conversation. She cannot physically pay all of it up front without letting down another company and defaulting. Do the nursery have any rights to refuse the payment plan or have a say in how much it is?

karmaamelia

Also thanks for replying by the way really appreciate it

bargainbetty

They do not have to accept a payment plan, but it won't look good if they go to court to get the money and it can be shown that they have refused it.

She should write to them, not call, write. Outline a payment plan that is affordable and covers the full amount she owes and include a cheque for the first payment. Stick to the plan, rigidly.

They may back off. They may not, but it will look better with the court that she made the offer and the first payments.

Good luck

Tixy

She could have offered a repayment plan at the time. They don't have to accept it and could have still chosen to take court action.

Now that she has received the court paperwork she will need to deal with this debt. It may still be worth trying to talk to the nursery and offering a repayment plan and asking them not to progress with court action.

If they won't accept this and do continue with court action then she can still ask the court to be allowed to pay in affordable installments (on the court form she has received), however she will then end up with a CCJ on her credit file for the next 6years (which will make it hard to get credit/affect her chance of renting new properties etc).

sourcrates

karmaamelia wrote: »

She has had a letter at the old house delivered and it appears to be a court 'claim formicon' one of these £35 fee ones claiming for the entire month that the daughter was taken out of nursery.

Hi,


Is the form pale blue with a court crest on it, and was it postmarked Northampton ?
These kind of debts usually go to a DCA first, not straight to court, have a proper look and make sure they are genuine court papers, as sometimes DCA`s make up there letters to replicate official court paperwork.
I have had issues with nurseries before, demand payment for days when my daughter wasn't even there, check the paperwork again OP.