NCMA or MM?

[Belly2009]

Hi,

I was registered in February of this year and the LA funded a toolkit for either MM or NCMA including insurance. I went with NCMA as I liked the look of their paperwork. I was sent the toolkit and insurance in January and have just noted the date as 22 December for renewal. I immediately called them and said I wasnt registered till Feb and could they defer the renewal till then as I wasnt minding when they sent the toolkit. It was like asking for the earth. I didnt like their manner and has now left me thinking what to do.

I am still new to childminding and feel i need support in paperwork/contracts/policies. Who is the better one of the two? I go to local NCMA run childminder drop ins and would be sad not to able to attend anymore if they were only for NCMA.

Thanks

[bunyip]

Declaration of interest: I'm with NCMA and I'm both a loyal supporter of what they do and critic of some of the things they don't do so well. (It is possible to be both.)

TBH, threads like this usually follow a pattern of each "side's" respective members saying how brilliant their "side" is and how rubbish the other is. You'll then get someone chipping in to tell you to look out for the forthcoming inception of UKCMA. But I wouldn't expect too much constructive or impartial advice.

TBF, I think both have problems with new memberships which are generated by local authority applications, not least because every LA acts as a law unto itself. They usually start the membership based on when the LA sends the payment, unless the individual member is able to specify otherwise on the application form. It sounds as if you were unfortunate enough to have had your application processed on the last working day or so before Christmas, and little wonder that the usual 'holiday closure' and mail backlog meant it took until January to get your pack delivered.

They also get some fairly outrageous requests with regard to new memberships (though I'm not implying that's the case here.) It's virtually impossible for a new CM to predict when their registration will come through (let alone when they'll actually start a client) so most CMs lose some of the benefit of their insurance coverage period in year one. Having spoken with one of the NCMA membership team face-to-face, I honestly think they find this just as frustrating as the new CMs do.

[rickysmiths]

One thing I would like to point out.

You can not be a member of MM. They are purely an Insurance broker selling Insurance and have no vested interest in Childminders other than selling them Insurance. All they do is offer 'sweeteners' to try and encourage cm business.

NCMA is not an Insurance Company but currently the only membership body who represents childminders interests in many ways and you have to be a member to take advantage of their cheap Public Liability Insurance. However you do not have to be a member to use Blu Fin who provide Car and Home Insurance and other to anyone who wants to buy it from them because they are a Broker like MM.