Taking my Daughters nursery to court?

zippybungle

Does your contract with the Nursery say that you will have to pay for pre-booked time off.

I have 2 Children in 2 different nurseries. Both Nurseries allow 'x' amount of holidays each year - I have to give 'x' amount of weeks notice in writing, then the nursery bill is half price for those days. If I don't give the full notice, then I don't get the holidays half price..so there have been a few occasions where we have booked a last minute holiday, yet still had to pay full price for childcare :rolleyes: - which is slightly annoying, but unfortunately that is the way it is. If my Children miss any days (sick) then again I have to pay full price.

If you are really unhappy, then find another Nursery

Zippy x

kit

I have to pay my nursery (full price) if my DD is sick, on holiday or has any other days off. I thought that was the norm?!?!

gazza975526570

Mine is half fees for days off booked a month in advance

As a previous poster says they have the same costs (except food) so think its fair enough

Now about suing your nursery - is it really worth the hassle?!
If you feel so strongly just go to a different one

robbsafc

I am going to get another copy of their T & C's, but what get's me is why do they ask for 6 weeks notice if my daughter will be on holiday? The nursery is a Nord Anglia by the way (Leapfrog) if anyone has T & C's handy.

Rob.

kit

I had a look round a leapfrog and I seem to recal that they charged for holidays too - I think all the nursery's i looked at did.

Nenen

I just had a look at Nord Anglia's website and they are a HUGE money making international organisation... 9,000 nursery places, 3,000 international school places and lots of government work doing things like OFSTED inspections, consultancy work, e-learning etc. Their website states that:
"Group

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Turnover up 13% to £55.4m (2006: £48.8m) and operating profit rose 65% to £2.5m (2006: £1.5m).
[*]New banking facilities totalling £55m agreed in principle."However, their nursery division (consisting of 88 nurseries with 9,000 places) whilst generating turnover of £22.0m (2006: £23.4m) and made an operating loss of £0.6m (2006: £0.1m profit).

This does show that despite their apparently inflexible contracts they don't make money from the nurseries... I wonder why they don't sell them off????

I think we tend to think of nurseries as 'home-from-home' environments where the people who run them do so for pleasure and to make a 'modest' living. Whilst I'm sure that most (if not all) the Nord Anglia nusery staff are very hard-working, dedicated and caring individuals the organisation as a whole is dedicated to making money (I assume from the website it is a PLC with share-holders but as I'm not a business expert I might well be mistaken there)!

I think you are confusing a small family run business with a homely, motherly sort of person caring for small children who would be flexible with you and want to help you out by allowing you to have periods when you don't pay, with an international money-making organisation with water-tight contracts and a much greater access to legal advice than you are likely to have!

I would be very wary of taking a large organisation like this to court unless you are convinced (and have legal advice to back you) that you have a watertight case.

Counting_Pennies_2

It is completely normal to pay for the time you aren't using the service.

The nursery still need to keep their same compliment of staff available, they still need the right ratio of staff for children and just because one child is off, doesn't mean they can enforce a holiday on a member of staff, as the other children require their service.

It is perfectly normal for you to receive holiday pay from your employers, and in effect you are employing them to do a job for you.

I paid my childminder when I went on holiday, and I don't receive a refund from my nursery when we have time off. I do feel you are being unrealistic requesting a refund, and for the sake of your child's happiness in the nursery and yours I wouldn't recommend carrying on with this line of enquiry with the nursery as it will sour the relationship, which I am assuming from the lack of any further criticism that you are happy with the care she receives and that is cruicial.

The 6 weeks notice of holiday is the only thing I find unreasonable, and you might want to check t&cs to find out what penalty they apply if you don't give that notice, as I think if you are slapped with a penalty at that point that you should query it.

katiesmummy

when my dd was at nursery, i had to pay for 5 days a week whether she was there or not- even when the nursery was closed for 2 weeks for their annual holiday and on bank holidays as well. if you so much as complained a tiny little bit about this you were sent a polite but blunt letter basically saying that it is their policy to charge for 5 days a week, 52 weeks a year whether the nursery is closed or not.

another thing they did to me once- when my dd turned 3, the government will cover part of the nursery fees as she became entitled to a part time place at a school nursery- i think the fee reduction worked out to something like 3 hours per day, but it gave me a 40quid or so reduction on my weekly bill. anyway, when this happened i was really pleased as it meant i had a bit of extra money in my pocket every week. this started september 03. in march 04, the nursery sent me a bill for several hundred pounds saying that i owed them for a shortfall. when i queried this, they said that they had 'forgotten' to tell me that the government doesnt pay the part-fee when normal schools are on holiday or for bank holidays and that i would have to pay it within 5 days or my dd would not be allowed back. long story short, i couldnt come up with the money in time, so dd was banned from the nursery!! i asked for a payment plan, tried to appeal to the managers better nature, explaining that i was a single mum etc etc, didnt work. i did think about taking them to court, but in the end i decided that i would probably lose more money that way.

robbsafc

I've checked the T & C's , found on the website. However I shall be making a formal complaint to Nord Anglia, following the procedure as advised by Oftsed for complaints first. I can't see that advising them of my daughter being on holiday makes any difference, so next time I don't think I'll bother. But can anyone shed any light how the Early Years Funding works? The nursery I use gives the Early Years reduction across fours months April to July and then it suddenly jumped up this month. I knew the nursery claimed the Early Years funding but was unaware of it being given across 4 months and not a 12 months period. So instead the reduction has been approximately £156 for 4 months, then the cost just suddenly jumps back up. However why dont't they give the reduction across 12 months which would be approximately £52 a month reduction. I contcted the relevant dept at the council who know about the Early Years aspect but am awaiting their reply.

Once again thanks,

Rob.

astonsmummy

DS nursery doesnt charge for bank holidays or the xmas week but we dont get any reductions for holidyas.
the last one gave 2 weeks holidays a year but chargd xmas and bank holidays, think it's just one of them things.