Upfront childminder costs & protection

JPS99

The child minder I have been talking to about taking care of my 8 year old is just starting up and I will be her first main client. I've been friends with her while she has been getting registered. She is now twisted and wants to start paid childminding for me from
Monday. However she has just given me details of her charges. While her hourly rate is perfectly reasonable she is asking for a months payment in advance as well as paying at the start of the month. This means she would like payment for November and December on the 1st November. I have had a similar arrangment when I used a nurse for preschool care but all other childminders I've used have billed me at the end of the month for the time used that month.
Have other people had this arrangment with their childminder?
What protection do I have if she suddenly decides she doesn't want to do it anymore or, godforbid, she was uable to childmind due to illness or accident.
It feels like a very large sum of money to be paying out to an individual, especially as she has no track record to go by.
I'd like to hear other people's oppinions as I'm a single mum with only a small support network and I don't know what I should do.

Spendless

I never used a Childminder, but most forms of childcare I used asked for the money in arrears. The one exception was holiday clubs where I had to make payment on booking. If there has been incidences of non-payment she's heard of, it might have made her more inclined to ask up-front, though 2 months if I've read it correctly (payment for November AND December on Nov 1st) seems a bit much. What do the other childminders in your area do? Something I've noticed is frequently all childminders in a particular area all do same thing eg they all start no earlier than x time, which must be particularly frustrating when you're a parent looking for something more flexible.

missile

That seems unreasonable to me. Who has been looking after your child until now? Look for another child minder.

rob7475

My partner's a childminder. She charges fees upfront. Parents can either pay weekly or monthly but must pay in advance. This is to protect her from parents who send their kids in for a month, then disappear without paying (it can and does happen). It it's a full time space, she could potentially lose around £800. Childminder's don't earn a great deal to start with, so a loss like that is a big deal.

She also takes a deposit when the parent reserves a space. However, this is used to pay for the first week/month of childcare. She's currently considering increasing the amount of deposit she takes as she's had parents booking a space, paying a week's deposit for her to hold that space for a few months and the child never shows up.

Amara

When my son used to be at nursery, they wanted payment in advance. It's your decision.

cyantist

I would think payment in advance is completely normal. So expecting you to pay for Novembers care on 1st November. But also expecting a month in advance is too much.
Just talk to her and say you can't afford the 2 months at once and that this isn't normal practice among childminders you've used before.

Oakdene

One month up front is reasonable, two is silly IMO.

Will you be able to claim the childcare back through Tax Credits?

Guest101

Is the childminder registered??


- sorry missed it in the OP

Kynthia

I would expect paying in advance is normal. I use a nursery but they want paying in time for the coming month and took a £300 deposit that I won't get back until we end our contract with them. So it was a large amount yo pay upfront.

Stevie_Palimo

Seeing as she has just registered and now believes that she can charge a different rate to people and ask for it in advance does not mean that is all she would accept, Being your friend why not just explain what you can afford and take it from there as I am sure rather than lose out she would work something out with you, Perhaps also add that if she posts adverts up you will be happy to give her a good rating also to help expand her business.

TBagpuss

I don'tthink payment in advance is unusual but equally, it's not unreasonable for you to look for her to be a bit flexible, particualrly as she is only just starting up.

Perhaps sugggest paying fortnightly with 2 weeks deposit? That way you would pay for 4 weeks (deposit + first 2 weeks) now, then another 2 weeks in a fortnight's time, and so on.

Make sure that you have a clear agreement in place which states when the deposit is returned , and also what happens in relation to her being unable to take youir child and how much notice you need to provide for days your child won't be there.