retainer fee ?? should i be charged ???

[davecoults1878]

hello
i would just like to ask a question as i am a bit confused and when i spoke to my CM about it she was not 100% clear on the matter

my daughter is with the CM 4 hrs a day , Mon , Tues and Fri after school and on holidays she is with the CM all day on the said days
i pay 21.00 a day and 29.75 a day on holidays
but each day i am paying a 5.25 retainer fee
what im i paying a retainer fee for ??
and is she right to be charging me a retainer fee ??

i pay a month in advance so if for what ever reason my daughter is not with the CM she has still been paid complete for that day

i read a few threads on retainer fees and thought i was getting my head around it but really don't understand why i pay a retainer fee

hopefully someone will be able to help me and give me a better understanding off the situation i am in

[mama2three]

which days do you pay a retainer fee?

Is this on top of the prices you have quoted?

And how old is your daughter? Just trying to get a clearer picture to answer your query properly .

i notice on another thread you referred to the notes on the back of the contract - this section refers to paying a retainer to hold a place before you start with a childminder , not relevant now your child is with the cm.

[sarah707]

Some childminders would charge a retainer fee for the 2 days of the week your daughter does not attend, as they would not be able to fill the space.

This is to keep the space open because the childminder could potentially take on a full time child and then your daughter would lose her space.

Alternatively if the retainer fee is charged just in term time (not holidays) it might be covering the time your child is at pre-school / playgroup etc. This is common practice for some childminders and covers if the childminder has to collect your child in an emergency.

Most childminders charge monthly in advance and the charge would be retained if the child / child's parents were off for any reason - unless advance notice was given. The length of advance notice should be written into your contract. If it is not, then you need to raise this.

The usual length of advance notice is either 2 or 4 weeks and will depend on what you have agreed. Personally I use 2 weeks - 2 weeks for ending contracts and 2 weeks for notice of changes. However many childminders use 4.

I refund payment if I am unable to work because the parent has to pay someone else to care for their child. Most childminders will do this especially if they are using NCMA or Morton Michel printed contracts.

However, childminders are self employed and set their own fees. For example, my day rate is generally higher than you are paying... we are all different.

I hope that helps and welcome to the forum! :D

[davecoults1878]

thanks for the help
hi sorry for the lack off information
my daughter is 3 years old
i pay 3.50 an hr plus the 5.25 a day
i pay the retainer fee on every day she is with the childminder

[Chatterbox Childcare]

If you daughter was at school then I wouldn't charge a retainer but I also wouldn't hold a full day for you in the holidays and if you wanted this guaranteed and the child is under 8 then I too would charge a session rate/retainer.

What the minder has done is keep the place for you for the holidays.

[davecoults1878]

even though we have agreed that the CM will have my daughter all day on the 3 days in the holidays and i pay for them in advance ?

[davecoults1878]

thank you for your replies

my daughter is 3 years old

i pay the 5.25 retainer fee every day my daughter is with the CM on top off the daily charges

my daughters places have been agreed for the holidays, she is there all day Monday Wednesday and Friday and these are paid for in advance in full
from every thing i have read about the retainer fee i thought the idea off it was so that the CM did not lose out on money from holding a place for a child
so as i have payed for the holiday period the month before in full why pay a retaining free every day though out the year ? surly i will be paying more in retaining fees than there are holiday periods ?

[minkzebell]

Not meaning to sound rude.... but why don't you just ask your CM, I'm sure there is a reason, but we can only speculate and not say for sure

[berkschick]

Sounds to me like your daughter is at pre-school half a day during the term, is this right? And with the childminder the rest of the day but during the holidays when pre school is closed, your childminder has your child all day?

If so then you are paying to retain the hours your child is at preschool as you will need the hours for your daughter during the holidays and therefore your childminder can not fill them with another child.

I childmind a little boy 5 mornings a week. His Mum works in a school so doesnt need me during the holidays so I charge her a retainer in the holidays to hold the space open for her.

[Chatterbox Childcare]

thank you for your replies

my daughter is 3 years old

i pay the 5.25 retainer fee every day my daughter is with the CM on top off the daily charges

my daughters places have been agreed for the holidays, she is there all day Monday Wednesday and Friday and these are paid for in advance in full
from every thing i have read about the retainer fee i thought the idea off it was so that the CM did not lose out on money from holding a place for a child
so as i have payed for the holiday period the month before in full why pay a retaining free every day though out the year ? surly i will be paying more in retaining fees than there are holiday periods ?

I think you are paying for the place to be there in the holidays.

Ask you CM what it is for but I would say it sounds fair, otherwise you need to take a chance on the space being there when you want it

[Heaven Scent]

What hours is your child at preschool?

We minders are limited to the number of under 5 year olds we can have and your childminder is devoting a full time space to your child for most of the year for you to avail of her services on a full time basis during the school holidays - I think the figure of £5.25 per day is more than reasonable I don't know where you get the amount of £21.00 per day for term time from as you say you pay £3.50 ph X 4hrs = £14.00 + £5.25 = £19.25. If your minder charges £3.50 ph she could potentially earn £35.00 per day for a F/T child on the days your child is attending if she had a child from 8.00 - 6.00 which is quite common if parents work from 9.00 - 5.00. - As you need your minder for 7 hours per day in the holidays I presume you would need your childminder to collect if they were to become ill or there was some other emergency during their hours at preschool until you could get back to your child. When you look at it this way your minder is only charging you half rate to hold this place open for you. I don't however know why you are paying this during the school holidays? unless of course your child is with the minder for more than 7 hours some days. One way or another you have signed to say you agree to pay it - I would therefore ask your minder to go through the figures with her again although I have to say this should have beeen done before you signed your contract - I have to say if your minder is reasonable she will go through it all step by step with you.

With regard to paying a month in advance this is quite common too as under the terms of our legal assistance which comes with our public liability insurance we are advised to charge in advance as we can then withdraw care of the child should payment not be received on the stated day until payment is made and thus reduce the amount of debt for the parents and the size of loss for us iyswim & by not doing so we are considered neglegent in the eyes of our insurers.

I myself charge weekly in advance as I prefer to be paid weekly and its easier for a parent to find one weeks payments in advance than a whole months.

I hope this is of some help.

[mama2three]

Hope we havent managed to confuse you even further.
If i understand correctly your minder has your little one for 4 hours a day term time and 7 hours a day in the holidays?
So the 7 hours need to be available to you year round ..she cannot fill those extra hours in the term time , but doesnt charge you full for them , but 50%.

Im unsure why you would pay a retainer on top of your holiday fee though , however less than £30 is actually a very competetive rate for a full day.

We are all self employed and able to charge the fees we feel are fair and appropriate , ..this is then put onto the contract which you signed , agreeing to her terms..

You really need to sit down together and work through this ...it is then up to you to decide whether the service is worth what you are paying for it , based on the best care for your child and their happiness.

[jemb]

Emm, I think this sounds a little unfair. I don't see the need to pay a retainer fee on top of the full day rate in the holidays. I don't understand what the parent would be "retaining"?? They are fully using and paying for the space already?

I am a childminder, but also a parent who has left my children with childminders in the past so can see it from both points of view. I would be looking for a different childminder (or arrangement) who could work with me in a more financial suitable and fair way. I understand childminders have to earn a living - thats what I'm trying to do - but it seems unfair that a parent should pay -for hours they will never need during term....

I think as a childminder I would be happy with a minimum session during term-time, which would be the minimum number of hours I would be happy to agree a place for and during the holidays would just be extra. Different story of course if parents wanted me to leep extra DAYS available for them, but this doesn't seem to be the case.

Davecoults - Hope you get sorted out or at least get it clarified better by your childminder!!