Can nursery charge a late fee even though they haven't sent an invoice?

[Deleted User]

My daughter's nursery usually sends a monthly invoice to be paid by the end of each month, which I always pay immediately. On Friday last week (28th June) I realised that we hadn't had the June invoice yet, so emailed to chase it up (they are usually very responsive on email) but got no response. I chased again today (2nd July) but have not had a response yet. They are notoriously bad at sending invoices on time, often coming only a few days before the end of the month, but this is first time they've not sent one at all. Previous invoices have a note at the bottom saying that a late fee of £10 per day will be charged for late payments, so now I'm worried that they will charge me for a "late" payment despite not being asked for the money yet. My worries are legitimate because a friend with two kids at the same nursery said this happened to her before, and when she queried the late fee despite lack of invoice she was told that she should know how much her childcare was going to cost so she should have paid anyway! When she argued it she got nowhere and was threatened with a CCJ if she didn't pay the late fee so she just paid it. This is a hypothetical question at the moment, as I don't know if I've been penalised yet, but would I really have to pay a late fee even though I haven't received an invoice on time? I pay through our tax-free childcare account so it can take up to 3 days for the nursery to receive the money from when I raise the payment, so I could potentially be charged several days worth of "late fees" even if I raised the payment now!

pinkshoes

I wouldn't worry about it yet.

You have evidence that you sent an email asking for the invoice, so you are covered.

Why not just phone them and ask?

(have you checked your junk mail box? Just in case…)

dj1471

What does the contract say about payment? If it says you must pay on receipt of invoice or similar then you're fine. If however it says you must pay £x a month then the lack of an invoice is irrelevant.

The charging of a late payment fee is almost certainly unlawful and if it wasn't in the original contract then it's unenforceable in any case.

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

missylisa153 wrote: »

When she argued it she got nowhere and was threatened with a CCJ if she didn't pay the late fee so she just paid it.

A nursery can't give you a CCJ, you'd have to be taken to small claims, lose and then not pay within the allotted time in order to receive a CCJ.

As above the £10 per day sounds like a penalty and is probably unlawful any way.

Any claim against you could only be for the nursery's actual loss plus they are required to mitigate that loss which they appear to have failed to do by not sending the invoice on time nor responding to your request for one.

Paul_DNAP

You can't pay a bill that hasn't arrived yet.


Seems odd that they are doing it by monthly invoice, have they not heard of direct debit?


If they send a late fee to you, refuse in writing explaining that they never invoiced you and if they threaten to CCJ you, call their bluff and say "okay, see you in court then" and refuse to enter into any more discussion on the subject directly with them in case that prejudices the proceedings.

DoaM

How is your general relationship with the nursery? Does your daughter get on well there?

How good are nursery provisions in your area?

(Answers to the above may colour your view ... if the nursery get antsy and you reciprocate then you may find that they refuse to renew any contract to provide nursery care to you/your daughter).

garth549

Wow if the nursery my children were at treated us like that (threatening court action for non-payment of bills they can't even be bothered to send out) then my children wouldn't be there the next day.