Nursery debt dispute?

helzyb

Hello
Thank u for reading.

For various reasons I ended up owing my childrens nursery a lot of money!
I was irresponsible burried my head in the sand etc. I then 12 months a go recieved a demand from a solicitor for 5000 pounds (over 1000 for solicitor who has sent a letter) and then 4000 for fees!
I was shocked by this amount and asked for more details re debt. I was sent basically a spreadsheet with very little information just numbers really.
I hav studied this and can see the 15 hours of nursery funding was not applied for 6 months even though it was claimed by nursery. Then at other times the funding has been applied at around 30 pounds a week rather than 50 pounds a week (which was the actual cost of 15 hours free nursery) I have also found a deiscrepancy where an 800 pounds cheque has been cashed but not applied.
I have now paid aprox 1300 off the total balance but feel I am being charged incorrectly and that the solicitors fees are rediculous for a letter!
Does anyone have any advice or suggestions? I believe 2000 pounds is more likely the correct amount of owed fees.

Thank you

Sazzie23

Hi Helzy

Sorry to hear of your troubles, I'm not sure of the best way to proceed but I though I'd bump your post back to page 1.

If it was me, I wouldn't pay anything til they came up with the correct figures but I'm not sure thats the best approach

hesjane

Hi

I would contact the early years team at your local authority and ask them to advise you how many hours the nursery has claimed for your child over the period covered by the dispute. In this way you can check that they have correctly allocated the free early education hours. If the nursery has not allocated all of the hours to your invoices you can ask the early years team to assist you with resolving this part of the dispute. They will not tell you how much they have paid the nursery as that is not relevant. It does not matter what a local authority pays a childcare provider per hour - the childcare provider has signed up to the scheme and agreed that for the rate the local authority is offering them they will deliver 15 hours per week to eligible children and not charge parents. The local authority team will not get involved in any dispute over the chargeable section of the fees unless it is identified that the nursery has been incorrectly charging for free hours.

Its important to understand that if your child attends more than 15 hours per week, the nursery fees for hours over and above the 15 hours can include additional charges for services - but they should have made you aware of this when you signed up to your contract. Examples of additional services are Ballet, French, but can include other items - the nursery should provide a list. These services do not have to be optional if you are accessing over the free early education hours each week.

I know it's a difficult concept, but there is no monetary value to parents of the free early education hours. Let's assume your child attended 50 hours per week (5 days @ 10 hours per day). Your invoice should show 35 chargeable hours @ £x.xx per hour and 15 hours @ £0.00. (this is what is meant by no monetary value - it does not matter where you send your child, as long as the nursery has signed up to the scheme you will get up to 15 hours free regardless of the rate charged by the nursery and all invoices should show the free early education hours as £0.00).

The nursery cannot just deduct the amount they have received from the local authority from your invoice.

I know it's confusing for parents - even childcare providers struggle to get it right. Good luck with resolving your dispute.

helzyb

Hello

Thank you so much for your replys. Really helpful I will contact the early years team as I was nt sure what to do now.

Looking at the invoice they have deducted aprox 35 pounds from the invoice which only equates to ten free hours a week and nothing from the April which is when he would have received the free hours.

At least I know who to contact for advice. I really want to pay off what I owe but the amount stated is excessive. It's scarey to think I have paid 22000 in childcare to this provider!

Thank you

sourcrates

Hi,
I had a similar problem with my daughters nursery about 7 years ago.
They charged me for days when she did not attend, at the time she got so many hours free, and thats all she went for, her free hours, they tried to charge for full days, instead of half days.

They would not acknowledge my letters, and they passed the account to a DCA, basically, they said we owed it, and that was that, no ifs, no buts, they could not possibly be wrong.

I asked them to prove we owed the money, i asked for attendance records, invoices, etc etc, they could not provide any.
Basically, someone had made an error, then did nothing to rectify the error, and the problem was passed down the line to me.
They cancelled the debt, eventually, but did not offer any apologies at all, shocking service, and i never used them again.

Challenge the bill in writing, put forward your reasons why it is wrong, and do not, under any circumstances, pay that solicitors bill of £1000, that is just another attempt to rip you off, you are under no obligation to pay this, only a court can direct you to pay an unsolicited legal bill, ask for a breakdown of this "legal bill", which solicitor is it ? charging £1000 for sending a letter is absolutely ludicrous, you seriously need to challenge this, and now, do not pay any more money to them until these points have been clarified to your satisfaction.

helzyb

Thank you so much for your reply. Feel a bit better that im not alone!

Im going to see a solicitor (when I find one) for some legal advice.

Im also going to phone the lea as suggested above to clarify the dates the nursery funding started.

So stressful not really been sleeping as thinking about this constantly!

Thanks

sacha28

helzyb wrote: »

Hello

Thank you so much for your replys. Really helpful I will contact the early years team as I was nt sure what to do now.

Looking at the invoice they have deducted aprox 35 pounds from the invoice which only equates to ten free hours a week and nothing from the April which is when he would have received the free hours.

At least I know who to contact for advice. I really want to pay off what I owe but the amount stated is excessive. It's scarey to think I have paid 22000 in childcare to this provider!

Thank you

helzyb, does/did your child attend nursery in term time? If (s)he does/did then the 10 hours free is correct. If your child only attended in term time, taking all half terms/summer holidays at home, then funding equates to 15 hours per week, if they attend(ed) all year round then the hours get divided up over the whole year and not the 'school' year.

And I agree with you, £1000 for a solicitors letter is bloody ridiculous and I would be questioning the firm and asking them to justify their charges!!

VanyaHargreeves

I'm certain there are solicitors' guidelines on how much they can charge. It should be on the Solicitors Regulation Authority website, I'm sure there's a cap of £250/hour or £350/hour depending where you are for work. It sounds like the letter you've gotten is very simple, and unless they've had to wade through an enormous pile of paperwork it would not have cost nearly 1k. Usually a letter is (relatively) very cheap. HTH

Marktheshark

The solicitor can not charge you anything, you have no contract with them.

DawnW

Would it be possible to speak to someone at the CAB instead of paying out even more for a solicitor? Alternatively some solicitors will give half an hour's free initial advice.

I wouldn't be paying this solicitor's bill unless you have been ordered by a court to do so.

helzyb

Thank you
With regards to nursery hours he attended 4 days a week. However, their was no reduction at all in the charge during holidays as his fees where trembly. Their is also a full term where no funding was applied when I had applied for it and he was eligible.

Perhaps it may be an idea to go to cab?

Thank you