Non paying parents !!!!!!!!

[powerwomen]

Hiya,

I would like to pick fellow childminders minds as i am at a stand still and loosing all hope,

I have two contracts one parent gets help paying for chilldcare(me) by working tax credits i get paid weekly,paid day comes and they havent got the fees as they have sent there child on a faimly holiday for 4 weeks !!! (ie the money that was to pay for childcare!) so mum says can they pay me a bit each day as the minded father gets paid daily,Which i agrreed to(didnt have much choice) but now they are playing about left right and centre saying there coming this day at that time no call nothing why do these people think that we dont have our own bills to pay and that what they are doing is fine.

So if that wasnt bad enough i have another parent that gets paid direct in there bank via NHS as the minded mum is a student,Firtsly the contract was for two children one month in to the contract they canceled one of the contract as she was sending the child away untill Dec to stay with family (which is fine but as per contract 4weeks notice should be given ie £800 !!!!! I said to be nice (god knows y) that as the child was leaving straigh away i would reduce it to £550.00 as i have a waiting list and could feel the place straight away She gets paid from the nhs on the 16th of each month so the 16th july comes the outstanding balance is £650.00 she turns up with £100.00 cash because "she doesnt know if they money has gone it to the bank" so she will let me know again nothing Saturday i make calls and text to her self nothing then out of the blue she pays £350.00 in to my bank then on the monday another £100 cash so it leaves outstanding £100 as i have reminded her thats its nearly a month now but its promise after promise bearing in mind she gets the chilcare paid for its not out of her own pocket i really dont understand y. i have now refused to take the child untill payment is made

I have rung both the tax credits and the nhs with out much help at all im just wondering now if parent 2 is still claiming for 2 children and im only minding one

I dont know where to turn to now over to my fellow childminders

[Dare4Distance]

Have you charged her late fees? I got my first mindees not long ago, holiday care only. Right from the first payment the mum has not paid me on time. I implemented the Late Fee straight away. Not that it makes her pay on time :rolleyes: She is supposed to pay me £90 every Tuesday but doesn't end up paying me till the Friday so every week she has to pay £15 in late fees :rolleyes: I'm pretty used to it now and I get an extra £15 a week for doing nothing extra :laughing: Thankfully it's just holiday care so don't have to put up with it for too long.

[aly]

wihtout the parents NI number i dont think you can do a lot if she is claiming for 2 but only sending 1.


Parents!!

[naomiesian]

As said already do you have a late fees policy in place?
Mine states that all late fees will incur a charge of £5.00 per day untill fees are settled in full, I have never had to use it so far.... Although I did send one parent a nice update letter because she was paying by cheque not allowing enough time for it to clear by the day the fees were due.
Tax credits are useless, I had a child finish in July and I know that her parent is still claiming costs. And even if she wasn`t she would still be entitled to them until 4 weeks after the child finished with me, giving the parents up to 80% of my fees to put in their pocket!!
Im not sure what advice to offer hun other than if you have a late fee policy use it and if not get one in place, here is mine to give you an idea

Parents update regarding fees:

Dear parents,
As from Monday 5th July 2010 all payments for childminding fees must be paid on the day that they are due regardless of term time/school holidays.
If paying weekly, please ensure that payments are made at the end of each week (or on the last day of the week your child attends). This includes the half rate agreed fee during school holidays if your child does not attend.
If paying monthly in advance (by prior agreement only) an invoice will now be sent 2 weeks before payment is due, this giving ample time for payment to be received and clear as available funds on the day that it is due.
If payment is in the form of cheque, childcare vouchers or bank transfer please be aware that these methods take up to 7 working days to clear as available funds.
If paying by cheque, cheques must be given at least 6 days before payment is due to allow enough time for me to bank and cheque to clear as funds for the payment due date.
As from the above date, late payment of fees will now incur a charge of £5.00 per day (no exceptions made).
Any such charge will appear on your next invoice as late charges.
I hope that this does not cause any problems and ask that should you have a query regarding this decision you contact me as soon as possible so that it can be discussed.

Yours Sincerely

Let us know the outcome hun and good luck naomie xx

[love381]

I have a parent who gets childcare fees help from the NHS due to being a student. They do not get ALL their childcare fees paid, they get a VERY LARGE percentage paid, but also get a payment towards their own needs (food, bills etc) so within the payment there should be more than enough to pay their childcare fees. I do know that the NHS department that pay her may well contact you to clarify amounts that have been paid and if it's not what she's been claiming for they will demand it back and/or take her to court. I know this from experience - child fees are paid monthly, but NHS work weekly - had to prove that weekly/monthly worked out slightly differently due to 12 monthly payments compared to 52 weekly payments. I'm not sure I can give any other information about this though, please ask if you have any other questions. x

[maryp0ppins]

Morning all....

Please please please on your next contract ask for payment in advance.....work out the hours needed before each month & give them the invoice......No payment = No childcare

I have learnt the hard way which is why I now do all my contracts this way.....

[Stillgoingstrong]

Morning all....

Please please please on your next contract ask for payment in advance.....work out the hours needed before each month & give them the invoice......No payment = No childcare

I have learnt the hard way which is why I now do all my contracts this way.....

SNAP!:eek:

[love381]

I don't get paid in advance from the NHS student, but will be when she qualifies. I do get paid in advance for all other childcare I do. I work out with the parent/carer what hours are required and charge for that each week (normally monthly, but weekly at present). If the hours change in my favour or in their favour, a new amount goes out for the next week. It works REALLY well as both parties know where we stand. x

[charlie potato]

how long would you give before withdrawing care due to unpaid fees?:idea:

[AliceK]

how long would you give before withdrawing care due to unpaid fees?:idea:

1 week, then I will withdraw care until fees are paid in full.

xxxxx