Help with leaving letter to finalise contract..

[Jelly Baby]

It is my last day with the twins today. They are asleep lol (will miss this) so ive just opened the letter dad gave me this morning. Thinking it would be a nice 'thanks for looking after our children for 4 years etc' its a very formal end of contract.. section xxx finalisation letter...very long winded and not sure what it is?!

I normally do a last one but cannot find it and wondered if anyone could point me in the right direction of how to write it. Something along the lines of. I hereby terminate our contract as of xx please ensure you inform tax credits etc..

Can anyone help please x

[smurfette]

Sorry cant help on this but was just thinking about you when I saw your thread .. Imagine you are finished now so hope it went well xx

[Jelly Baby]

Sorry cant help on this but was just thinking about you when I saw your thread .. Imagine you are finished now so hope it went well xx

Hi. Well I was finished at 5.45pm but I have had hassle since due to not signing their letter. I have done a basic one saying money paid etc, good luck.. Just wondered what everyone else does?
Thanks

[Mouse]

Mine is a very basic letter.

I can't remember exactly what it says but it's something along the lines of:

Dear.............

Please accept this letter as confirmation that our childminding contract for X has ceased on (date).
I confirm that all fees have been paid up to date.

I have enjoyed looking after X and we will all miss him/her. I wish you all the very best for the future.

Yours....


Obviously I don't always mean the bit about having enjoyed looking after them!

Oh, there's also a bit about them having to inform tax credits.

[smurfette]

Hi. Well I was finished at 5.45pm but I have had hassle since due to not signing their letter. I have done a basic one saying money paid etc, good luck.. Just wondered what everyone else does?
Thanks

Do they get help for fees? Maybe they think they need this to let tax credits know? Replied on other thread to you xx

[bunyip]

It is my last day with the twins today. They are asleep lol (will miss this) so ive just opened the letter dad gave me this morning. Thinking it would be a nice 'thanks for looking after our children for 4 years etc' its a very formal end of contract.. section xxx finalisation letter...very long winded and not sure what it is?!

I normally do a last one but cannot find it and wondered if anyone could point me in the right direction of how to write it. Something along the lines of. I hereby terminate our contract as of xx please ensure you inform tax credits etc..

Can anyone help please x

I'm being nosey. What did the clients' letter say that they wanted you to sign? :confused:

[Jelly Baby]

Thanks Mouse that's pretty much what I put plus the tax credits bit.. they have had it by email as our printers having a paddy and have replied thanks and all ok. No they never claimed tax credits but put it in anyway as a standard one I guess for all families which ill do in the future.

Bunyip their letter was a 'cancellation of contracts made in a consumers home or place of work etc Regulations 2008'?? Anyone heard of this before?

Its quite long winded but basically says they have cancelled their contract with me (already done this obviously with my notice letter) that they have paid me up to date and no monies outstanding etc. At the bottom is them 'employer' and me 'contractor'?

[bunyip]

Thanks Mouse that's pretty much what I put plus the tax credits bit.. they have had it by email as our printers having a paddy and have replied thanks and all ok. No they never claimed tax credits but put it in anyway as a standard one I guess for all families which ill do in the future.

Bunyip their letter was a 'cancellation of contracts made in a consumers home or place of work etc Regulations 2008'?? Anyone heard of this before?

Its quite long winded but basically says they have cancelled their contract with me (already done this obviously with my notice letter) that they have paid me up to date and no monies outstanding etc. At the bottom is them 'employer' and me 'contractor'?

Not heard of that one before. I'm guessing (by the sound of the title) that it applies to individuals contracting a self-employed person, but on their premises (eg. a builder or plumber, etc.) ?????

I'd take legal advise on that one.

[sing-low]

Not heard of that one before. I'm guessing (by the sound of the title) that it applies to individuals contracting a self-employed person, but on their premises (eg. a builder or plumber, etc.) ?????

I'd take legal advise on that one.

Def take legal advice if they are pressuring you to sign. They are not your employer, you are self-employed and signing that letter could have legal implications you don't/won't want.

[Jelly Baby]

Thanks. I haven't and will not be signing it. They are away for 3 weeks now. They are polish, I asked them what it meant..seems they didn't know and said they had taken advice to write it and it was what they were told to do? when I said by who they wouldn't tell me. They do tend to and always have done things differently to how others would.

[wendywu]

Just sign it Bugs Bunny :laughing:

But honestly i would sign nothing at all that they have written. You dont have to so dont , they are part of your past now. I would not even answer any contact they tried to make, by phone or email. :(

[Mouse]

If you google it, it says it's to do with a cooling off period when you sign contracts for work or services in your own home. Eg. if a workman comes to your house, gives you a quote for some work and you agree to it, they have to give you a cooling off period & explain your cancellation rights. It covers tradesmen, doorstep sellers etc.

Trading Standards - Cancellation of Contracts Made in a Consumer's Home or Place of Work etc Regs 2008 (http://www3.hants.gov.uk/tradingstandards/tradingstandards-businessadvice/tradingstandards-cancellation.htm)

[bunyip]

After a little research and a couple of phone calls re: Cancellation of contracts made in a consumer's home or place of work, etc. Regulations 2008.....

It appears to be pretty much what Mouse has described, with the important point that it does go a little beyond doorstep selling, and could therefore be applied to CMs in certain circumstances (but not, I think, in Jelly Baby's case.)

These regulations were intended to tighten up on previous regs to limit hard-sell doorstep sellers (eg. handymen, 'tradesmen', your archetypal/stereotypical double-glazing salesmen, etc. and no offence meant to any honest traders in the preceding list :)) who were finding loopholes in some of the earlier laws and rules. In brief, and with certain exceptions, the regulations demand that customers/clients have the right to a minimum 7-day 'cooling off' period in which to cancel any contract which they sign in their own home, place of work, or another individual's home. The trader must make the customer aware of these rights in writing; failure to do so is a criminal offence.

This could actually apply to a CM, which I never realised before. It seems the only way to avoid it is to do what I guess most of us already do: that is, always get the client round to the CM's house to sign any contract.

As far as Jelly Baby is concerned, my guess is that the parents' letter was totally irrelevant, as what they were doing didn't fall under the regulations stated. They were essentially asserting a right to cancel a contract within 7 days of signing it, which just doesn't appear to be applicable in this case, as the contract had been active for a far longer time. :confused:.The parents appear to have been mis-advised to apply the wrong regulations in the wrong manner. So probably no harm done (and somehow comforting to know that the client's "adviser" suffers from rectal-humeral cognitive dysfunction :rolleyes: .)

Still, I have to say I agree with the principle of taking legal advice before signing anything we don't fully understand. :thumbsup:

[Mouse]

After a little research and a couple of phone calls re: Cancellation of contracts made in a consumer's home or place of work, etc. Regulations 2008.....

It appears to be pretty much what Mouse has described, with the important point that it does go a little beyond doorstep selling, and could therefore be applied to CMs in certain circumstances (but not, I think, in Jelly Baby's case.)

These regulations were intended to tighten up on previous regs to limit hard-sell doorstep sellers (eg. handymen, 'tradesmen', your archetypal/stereotypical double-glazing salesmen, etc. and no offence meant to any honest traders in the preceding list :)) who were finding loopholes in some of the earlier laws and rules. In brief, and with certain exceptions, the regulations demand that customers/clients have the right to a minimum 7-day 'cooling off' period in which to cancel any contract which they sign in their own home, place of work, or another individual's home. The trader must make the customer aware of these rights in writing; failure to do so is a criminal offence.

This could actually apply to a CM, which I never realised before. It seems the only way to avoid it is to do what I guess most of us already do: that is, always get the client round to the CM's house to sign any contract.

As far as Jelly Baby is concerned, my guess is that the parents' letter was totally irrelevant, as what they were doing didn't fall under the regulations stated. They were essentially asserting a right to cancel a contract within 7 days of signing it, which just doesn't appear to be applicable in this case, as the contract had been active for a far longer time. :confused:.The parents appear to have been mis-advised to apply the wrong regulations in the wrong manner. So probably no harm done (and somehow comforting to know that the client's "adviser" suffers from rectal-humeral cognitive dysfunction :rolleyes: .)

Still, I have to say I agree with the principle of taking legal advice before signing anything we don't fully understand. :thumbsup:

Thanks for that Bunyip. My first thought was that it didn't apply to childminders as we don't go to the client's home to sign contracts, but then I realised that some childminders do actually do that. Have I read it correctly that if we have the client complete the form in our own home we don't need it, but if we went to their home we should apply it & give a 7 day cooling off period etc?

In Jelly Belly's case I'd guess the family don't understand it either!

[bunyip]

Thanks for that Bunyip. My first thought was that it didn't apply to childminders as we don't go to the client's home to sign contracts, but then I realised that some childminders do actually do that. Have I read it correctly that if we have the client complete the form in our own home we don't need it, but if we went to their home we should apply it & give a 7 day cooling off period etc?

In Jelly Belly's case I'd guess the family don't understand it either!

Hi Mouse :waving:,

I don't have a definitive answer on the regulations' applicability to CMs. We're an odd case, because our home and business premises are one and the same thing, and the regs also apply to contracts signed "in another individual's home". Maybe a wily solicitor could argue that a CM is "another individual".

OTOH, an equally wily defending solicitor could argue about the purpose/intention of the regulations.

The reality is that any sane self-employed CM would let a client cancel a contract rather than paying a solicitor to insist on continuing a business relationship that had clearly broken down before it started.

From a practical point of view, I'm not sure if we should or should not be offering all clients a 7-day cool-off just to be absolutely on the safe side. Pacey legal advised me it was not a requirement for contracts signed at our own premises.

Again, the reality is that those of us who have a settling-in period (eg. immediate notice option over the first 28 days) are already offering a form of "cooling off period" in practice.