Child Care Bill & Debt Collectors

AmberStripes

Hi all,

I used an after school club for child care earlier in the year. Their care was great but after a few months I moved to the 'official' club attached to my child's school.

Several months later I have received a threatening letter and a bill for £60.

The letter claims that I have not paid for some of the sessions. It has given me a 7 day deadline before passing my details on to a debt collector.

The owner insists on prepayment, likes to deal in cash and issues no receipts. There is no way this bill could be justified but on the flip side there is no way that I can prove I have paid. The owner refuses to take my calls and has not shown me evidence of my child's attendance. I'm 100% sure that the bill is incorrect.

Other parents have received similar letters in the past. They have paid them despite not being justified to prevent having threatening debt collectors at the door.

What should I do? Part of me says just pay it to make the worry go away but I feel as if other families will get this treatment in the future if I do.

Thanks in advance of your help.

Hintza

Just tell them to carry on and you will have a chat with HMRC before the court hearing. Having said that if you owe them you should pay them.

AmberStripes

Thanks for the advice.

If I owed them I would pay them. That was my reason for wanting to see proof from them.

It was only when I mentioned it to other parents that they volunteered similar experiences.

daytona0

What is the weekly/monthly rate for their services?

AmberStripes

Its £10 per child per session for the after school club.

DandelionPatrol

AmberStripes wrote: »

Hi all,

I used an after school club for child care earlier in the year. Their care was great but after a few months I moved to the 'official' club attached to my child's school.

Several months later I have received a threatening letter and a bill for £60.

The letter claims that I have not paid for some of the sessions. It has given me a 7 day deadline before passing my details on to a debt collector.

The owner insists on prepayment, likes to deal in cash and issues no receipts. There is no way this bill could be justified but on the flip side there is no way that I can prove I have paid. The owner refuses to take my calls and has not shown me evidence of my child's attendance. I'm 100% sure that the bill is incorrect.

Other parents have received similar letters in the past. They have paid them despite not being justified to prevent having threatening debt collectors at the door.

What should I do? Part of me says just pay it to make the worry go away but I feel as if other families will get this treatment in the future if I do.

Thanks in advance of your help.

Write a letter and keep a copy. The letter should dispute the debt and request proof that the money was owed. Remember that the creditor must prove that the debt is valid, you do not have to prove that there is no debt.

bris

Debt collectors are toothless, it's the courts you need to worry about. If they have no proof you owe the money then forget about it.

unholyangel

Did you only ever just pay on the day? Or did you pay in advance for a week (for example)?

What I'm basically asking is, is there any chance you normally withdraw the money from a bank account before paying? For example if your kid went 4 days a week and you were withdrawing £40 then that could possibly be used as proof of payment.

I'd perhaps ask some of the other parents if they would be willing to sign a statement saying that the club is payment up front only and does not allow you to run a tab.

The business must keep records - for tax purposes. If they're incomplete or botched, they're likely in for a rough time if they are ever audited.

Plus default position of the law is that they would need to prove a debt was owed - not that you'd need to prove it wasn't. So they must have records of some sort.

NotRichAtAll

Surely proof needs to be provided before a debt collector will take on the job? My 1st thought's

dodgy buisness dealings if no reciepts are issued i would want a reciept, so to counter mention tax man.
Police, you are been harassed for money you say you do not owe.

if you are 100% sure you do not owe the money then brave it out.

when your child went to this place how did you pay? did you pay for each session on the day at the door did you pay for a week at a time?
£60 is what 6 days you did not supposedly pay for or what has the person provided any specific dates.

bod1467

NotRichAtAll wrote: »

Surely proof needs to be provided before a debt collector will take on the job?

You have a rose-tinted view of debt collectors.

arcon5

Hintza wrote: »

Just tell them to carry on and you will have a chat with HMRC before the court hearing. Having said that if you owe them you should pay them.

Ye? What will HMRC do to help op? Op can prove as much as HMRC.... not much.