Nursery issue: non refundable deposit of £1000.

[kgb777]

Is this a normal practice for a private nursery to retain full £1000 deposit?
In november 2011 we looked for a nursery for our 2 y.o daughter and found an afternoon place available from September 2012 in Noting Hill, London.
They have asked for £1000 deposit to secure the place and to sign terms and cons. We have sent the cheque during the same month. Unfortunately in June 2012 we had to move and our new home is far away from the nursery in Noting-Hill. On 1st July we notified the nursery that we wont require the place any longer and that our daughter is not going to start with them from September 2012.
I understand that there are some admin fees to be covered but i hoped that we will be able to recover at least some money from the original £1000 deposit.
Turns out this is not the case and ' no longer kind and friendly' nursery manager advised me that i have signed terms and cons, where i have agreed for full £1000 to remain with the nursery....
Please can someone tell me if you had a similar experience as £1000 is a lot of money for our family.
thank you

Bloody hell, never heard of anything like this

£2,000 was a Month's fees for 3 days a week

Dear God. That's outrageous.

IIIRC it's a months fee's as a refundable deposit at the dc's nursery. From what I remember it's only held if you leave without giving them a months notice.

Approx £800 a month I think.

I work in a nursery and I would not want to work to a zero hours contract.
I think that nursery provision should be state provided and should be universal so that everyone can use it.
It would mean that taxes would have to go up but the result would be that people were not trapped in a poverty trap where they can't afford to go out to work.

Is that a months fees ? A non returnable deposit is normal I'm afraid. Some around here ask a month, some a week.

I'd hate to live in these areas.

No wonder people dont work/go back to work. I couldn't afford those prices.

The problem with a pay per day is that you may very well turn up and be turned away as there is a staff to (age of) child ratio they need to stick to. Under 3s is dearer than over 3s for provision and the ratio is one of the reasons.

London is bloody expensive though - but community/church ones are cheaper than private ones and the childcare provision is very similar (maybe not so many sparkly new toys).

All these non refundable deposits - that's only if you don't give notice, right?

Correct: there is sometimes a totally non-returnable admin/registration fee (about £50 mark), then a deposit on confirmation you are taking up a firmly offered place (this is usually a term's fees (if a school-type set up) or a month's fees (if a year-round one)), and these are refunded against final bill provided correct notice has been given.

Reading the op again, I think that the nursery has no right to keep hold of this money.
Assumimg the notive to cancel is the standard 4 weks, than why is the nursery entitled to keep the money.
The child hadn't started and the nursery has been given a month's notice. Presumably the nursery has a waiting list and won't have any trouble filling the place.
I could understand if the op took her child out without any notice, then the nursery would be right to keep the deposit to cover fees. But in this case, i think the nursery is being very unfair and possibly not acting legally.

OP hasn't said what the notice period is: if a month, then yes it looks all wrong. But if a term, then it's harsh but what was signed up to (it's why I asked if it was a school type place, or a year round place as the former often go termly and the late monthly).

What on earth did I write that broke the talk guidelines? If I said something that offended you OP, I'm very sorry.

Usually notice period is one term or three months.

I think the nursery name was mentioned.

Ds nursery was a £50 refundable deposit, another nursery that I looked into wanted £400 non refundable, I told them to stuff it.

£1400 doesn't actually seem that high to me - it's £70 per day. You can pay £40 up here, doesn't surprise me that London prices would be 1.5 to 2x that

assuming you're in London- if you're in Middlesbrough then I am

A friend in Germany is thinking of getting her 1 year old into nursery so was looking at prices. For an under 3 it is 142? a month for 9 hours a day, 5 days a week dropping to 117? when he turns 3. Another friend in Denmark is looking at similar fees. Both countries subsidise childcare in a bid to enable parents to return to work if they wish, 75% subsidy in the case of Denmark.

Gee I wonder why they have a higher proportion of working parents than the UK does

Yes I think you're right NickNacks as the OP's post was also highlighted.

I'm hoping that the OP asked for them to be removed rather than the nursery being horribly litigious!

Wish I knew who it was... [super nosey emcom]

Small calims court but contact C.A and make sure you do all the stages correctly.

In some places in London the lease/rental costs are over the top.

It is still possible to find cheaper places, but not Notting Hill.

I think it would depend what the notice period is.
By July i would have thought all the september starters would have been set up with a nursery somewhere so it might be that it would be difficult to fill the place at that time of year

I think edwinbear means £1400 a month per child, but she is only getting four days a week of care for each child. Still, £2.8k a month for childcare would punch a hole in your take home pay!

woah. I thought we paid a lot (£150) in Cambridgeshire.