CM wants part of the payment in cash. Is this normal?

sorry we have been decorating playroom so my reg was taken down.it saysi can have 1 under1 and three under 5.sorry all this time i was wrong oops

oops ressed it twice, sorry.

It sounds like she may be going through some problems at the mo. What you should be concernerned with is the careshe is offering you and importantly your children. You seem obviously worried and have suggested you seem worried and almost looking out for her, this should ot be the deal. You should feel confident to leave your children in her care. If she is not willing to confide in you, mabe if you are concerned about the care your children are recieving ou should look for alternative care. Although childminders at the end of the day are only human and have problems like anyone else...you should feel confidant that your children are safe and well cared for.

It sounds like she may be going through some problems at the mo. What you should be concernerned with is the careshe is offering you and importantly your children. You seem obviously worried and have suggested you seem worried and almost looking out for her, this should ot be the deal. You should feel confident to leave your children in her care. If she is not willing to confide in you, mabe if you are concerned about the care your children are recieving ou should look for alternative care. Although childminders at the end of the day are only human and have problems like anyone else...you should feel confidant that your children are safe and well cared for.

yer so am i my regestration said this but i never take more than three anyway.

America - I can't see any problem with the childminder asking for cash payment. As long as you are given a receipt then the childminder will have to put these amounts in her accounts book. It's sometimes a problem for parents to have cash payment as they can't get to a cashpoint (just as it is a problem for a childminder to get to a cashpoint.

I mind Monday 8am to Thursday 6pm and can't get to any cashpoints conveniently while minding the children and by the time my day is finished with my own three I have to get in the car to drive to one if I need the cash.

Also, one of my parents pays by cheque on a Monday but I can't get to the bank until the Friday and then the cheque takes days to clear so effectively I'm in arrears.

There are still a lot of people who prefer cash payment.

didn't think it was down to council but down to Ofsted?? Is this what your actual certificate says then?

hi looneytune i am in surrey and merton council say 1 under1 ,2 under3, 3under5.

of which 3 can be under 5

bigdonna - where are you then? I'm in England and you DON'T need a variation for 3 under 2's, I had 3 under 18 months recently and it was all above board. In England it's a max of 6 under 8's (but your own children are deducted), 3 of which can be under and and only 1 of these can be under 1. Other than that, she'd need a variation.

she will have to have a variation to have 3 under 2.i have large house have lots of experience and am allowed 1 under1 2 under 3 ,and 3 under5.2 over 5.i also get paid in cash.i give receipts so they have proof they paid.

its six under eight, three under five, one under one. BUT it is fairly easy to get this increased, and as someone else said, there are other rules for rising fives. Just ask her how many shes registered for!
I still dont get why everyone is SO SUSPICIOUS of paying by cash, it IS a pita having a bank transfer for the reason that marypumpkins gives. I have been out of pocket by delayed bank transfers myself.

She's required to display her certificate anyway so it should be with her intro to home based childcare practice cert and her paediatric cert - on her wall

in a rush so haven't seen all the posts but I understand the rule is...

5 under 8, of which no more than 3 should be under 5 and no more than 1 under 1yrs old.

Sammy I know but they havent the money themselves till the day its' due so can't do that as it'd then leave them short, doing it part cash part transfer should work out ok for all concerned

Nothing wrong with being paid in cash, doesn't mean that everyone who deals in cash is dodgy and not going to declare it

I used to have 5 under 5's but 2 were rising 5's and therefore counted as over 5's iyswim. However I'd definitely check her certificate as this shows all of the children she's allowed to 'childmind' (ie. her own kids aren't included in those numbers, if she has any). And yes, her certificate AND insurance cert should be on a wall or something where you can see it - it's a legal requirement.

five under 5 I bet she's over her numbers.

Ask to see her reg cert ASAP. If she starts story telling, then you'll know she over minding.

As for the payment situation, It's not iffy at all, however, it MAY be that she's understating her income in order to remain qualfied for certain benefits.

HTH

When I was a cm in London it was a pita to get to the bank. I was looking after children a minimum of 4 days a week and the last thing I wanted to do was have to go to the bank to get cash. At least one of my mindees paid cash but everything went through my books. If you're worried about that, just make sure she writes you a receipt.

Re. her numbers, like the others have said, check her certificate.

TheOtherMaryPumpkins - when parents have paid me by bank transfer I have explained that it should be in my bank on te contracted day/date so it may have to leave their account earlier, and they should ensure this at their bank. Does that make sense?

I am going to now ask parents who pay by bank transfer for a part of it in cash as it takes 3-5 days to clear still and leaves me with no cash for that time which isn't on - but then again I can't be asking for payments early to allow for this so it's my way round it.

As to numbers, she may have a variation - that would show on her certificate so check it out.

Why don't you just speak to her about the number of kids she has, ask her how many she is registered to look after? Four under fives wouldn't be unusual, five would be very, I think. Does she have five under fives all at the same time, or do they come and go, if they come and go, she might not even be over her numbers. If you are concerned, talk to her and tell her why, have a discussion about it, you might feel happier afterwards.I would always hope that a parent of any of my mindees would talk to me in the first instance before asking to see paperwork and calling ofsted! The cash points in the shops close to where I am (there are 3 nearby) are also constantly out of order or have run out of cash, so I dont think this excuse is that doubtful.

her certificate should be up on her wall, where you can easily see it.

A person may want paying in cash because they are over their overdraft limit so any cheques/bank transfers etc will just disappear into a black hole: the mix of cash and vouchers may be a way of reducing her debt while still having enough money for food etc.

The number of children would worry me most.

Does she have her registration certificate on view. A registered cm should always have this displayed while minding. You are perfectly entitled to ask to see it if not displayed. It gives details of how many children and what ages she can look after. Most cm's are only allowed 3 under 5's unless they have a variation from ODSTED which i think is shown on tHE certificate??

If not registered she won't be insured, and even if she is registerd i would assume that if she is over her numbers that would invalidate any insurance she did have.

Def seems fishy. Something not quite right about this sudden change. I wouldnt agree to it TBH.