Non payment from parent

[Lynz08]

Hello, just looking for a bit of advice on a non payment. I had a parent who paid me 4 weeks in arrears (this was something we agreed on) and I never had a problem with payment before. She was a student and was struggling with getting help with childcare costs near the end (single parent as well). One day she text me saying her bursar has not granted her any money for childcare costs so I wouldn't be able to collect her child from school anymore. I know she was genuine about this so I said I will forgo the usual 4 weeks notice as I know she couldn't pay it so I told her the balance as of the end of that week. Now this was the beginning of March and I've still had no payment from her. I've been texting her but no reply. And no answer when I phone.

What would people suggest my next move is......send her a letter? Then where do I go from there?

This lady was nice so I don't really want to get too tough with her and it's only £50 tbh but I can't just let it go because at the end of the day I did provide her with a service.

[hectors house]

I would write her a letter saying that you have waived the period of notice as a gesture of goodwill but you can't do the same for the £50 as that was for childcare actually provided - give her 7 days to pay and tell her that you have spoken to your insurance company's legal department and they are waiting for you to give the go ahead on whether to proceed with debt recovery (she won't know that they won't chase amounts less than £100).

Put everything in writing from now on rather then e-mailing or texts. Hope she pays you as you have been very lenient regarding notice period.

[Chatterbox Childcare]

ring your insurance company and learn from this and always get payment in advance

[Lynz08]

Thank you yes I will write her a letter attaching invoice stating that I was kind enough to waiver the 4 week notice and I expect some courtesy back in the form of payment for services!! Would you add on an admin fee to the amount (for costs of texts, printing letter and invoice, and stamp?) to show that I am serious? I was thinking of stating that if she doesn't pay the agreed amount within 7 days then I will add on the 4 weeks notice that I kindly let her off with (as it is in her contract anyway) and then call my insurance company? Or is this a step too far?

Every other parent pays me in advance and I don't want this experience to sour me from helping parents out in the future by paying in arrears if they are struggling but yes maybe you are right. Shame that one person has to ruin things for everyone else :-)

[lollipop kid]

Thank you yes I will write her a letter attaching invoice stating that I was kind enough to waiver the 4 week notice and I expect some courtesy back in the form of payment for services!! Would you add on an admin fee to the amount (for costs of texts, printing letter and invoice, and stamp?) to show that I am serious? I was thinking of stating that if she doesn't pay the agreed amount within 7 days then I will add on the 4 weeks notice that I kindly let her off with (as it is in her contract anyway) and then call my insurance company? Or is this a step too far?

Every other parent pays me in advance and I don't want this experience to sour me from helping parents out in the future by paying in arrears if they are struggling but yes maybe you are right. Shame that one person has to ruin things for everyone else :-)

Lynz08, just to say that sometimes it's better to take a small hit to the pocket rather than garner bad feeling should you go down the chasing route only for this lady to start bad-mouthing you left right and centre locally. Good reputations take a long time to build in this business, but take a much longer time to re-build should you get any negative PR out of this.

Plus, you've probably spent a lot of your valuable time thinking about how to recoup this £50 already (and I bet if you work it out hour by hour of your time, then you've probably incurred a lot more than £50 on this problem by now).

Just putting in my penny's worth.

Genuinely hope it helps,

L

[Lynz08]

Thankyou lollipop kid, yes I did think to myself that I should maybe let it go because it's not a huge amount of money but it's just the principle of the thing really. If other parents find out I've let her get away with it what if they try the same thing? Something for me to mull over a bit longer :-) thankyou for your comment x

[lollipop kid]

Thankyou lollipop kid, yes I did think to myself that I should maybe let it go because it's not a huge amount of money but it's just the principle of the thing really. If other parents find out I've let her get away with it what if they try the same thing? Something for me to mull over a bit longer :-) thankyou for your comment x

No problem. In my book, not chasing gives you the moral high ground, as well as a good back story to use to explain to new parents why you "always now take a deposit of 4 weeks fees, plus 4 weeks' fees in advance", as you 'know they would obviously never take advantage of you, but it has happened in the past, which is why you prefer to keep everything professional, including respect for your payment terms' or something similar.

Hope it helps.

Good luck,

L