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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Funded childcare hours and ignoring a demand for payment.

55 replies

QueenofmyPrinces · 26/02/2018 08:12

I’m a “Play by the rules” type of woman which is why this is bothering me so much....

I have a son who is almost 4 and last September he started at a pre-school with the 30 funded hours.

All was well until at the start of February the pre-school contacted me to say their computer system was showing that DS was no longer eligible for funding.

My DH contacted HMRC (as the application was in his name) and they told him that DS was eligible and so we relayed this back to pre-school.

A few days later pre-school contacted me to say their system still said he wasn’t eligible so could we ring HMRC again, which DH did who again told him that there was no problem with DS having the funding so we relayed this to pre-school again.

A few days later it happened again, DH spoke to HMRC again and then he told pre-school to contact HMRC themselves to sort it out as they were consistently saying there was no problem with DS’s eligibility code or funding.

The pre-school didn’t phone HMRC though and just continued to contact me saying the same thing about their system and then said they hadn’t received any money/funding for DS for 6 weeks and I said I did not know what the answer was then because DH was being told by HMRC everything was fine. I reiterated again that they really needed to speak to HMRC themselves because there was no more that me or DH could do.

Whilst all this had been going on we had decided to move DS to a childminder (not related to this issue) and I asked her if she’d had any problems registering DS into her care regarding the funding and she said it had all been fine, she’d spoken to HMRC and they had confirmed DS’s eligibility and had settled dates for when she would receive her payments. I told the pre-school that his new childminder hadn’t come across any problems regarding DS’s funding so obviously the fault lay with their system.

We then didn’t hear anything for a few weeks so we assumed they had spoken to HMRC themselves and the problem had been resolved.

However, last week we received a bill from the pre-school for almost £700 which they say is to cover the care they’d provided to DS during the period from when their system had said he wasn’t eligible up until the date he left their setting.

My DH was fuming and basically said they can f**k off if they think they’re getting a penny out of us!! He shut the letter away in a drawer and said there’s no way we’re paying it as DS has always been eligible and if they had cared about the issue they should have bloody rang the HMRC themselves!!

DH has completely moved on from this whereas I’m slightly fretting and feel we should be doing something, not just ignoring it.

AIBU to think we should contact them and try and resolve the matter? DH said we shouldn’t bother as we’ve been trying to sort the funding issues with them for weeks and it’s been like banging our heads against a brick wall.

OP posts:
ICanTuckMyBoobsInMyPockets · 26/02/2018 08:20

I agree with your DH. You've tried to sort it, there was no issue.
If they were that concerned they should have called HMRC themselves.
Your DS is entitled to free childcare, do not pay this bill because of their computer error.

Faze84 · 26/02/2018 08:23

Every time the 30 free hours eligibility is confirmed you should get a secure message to your government gateway account saying its confirmed for the next 3 months. Just show the pre school that message.

Peachesandcream15 · 26/02/2018 08:24

My nursery has also been having this exact problem. It is not the nursery's fault. You need to contact HMRC and again and direct your anger at them. Nothing good will come of ignoring a bill for £700.

Helsingborg · 26/02/2018 08:27

Do you think the nursery is pulling a fast one?

TheClacksAreDown · 26/02/2018 08:28

I would write them a letter confirming the position with a timeline of events. If you don’t and they try and take action if looks like you’ve ignored their correspondence.

Brokenbiscuit · 26/02/2018 08:28

I don't think you should pay it but I don't think you should ignore it either. Have you got a paper trail to prove that DS was eligible and that you tried to resolve the issue?

MyDcAreMarvel · 26/02/2018 08:30

Had you been confirming the childcare every three months?

Faze84 · 26/02/2018 08:30

The government gateway messages are your papertrail to prove eligibility. They are dated!!

Brokenbiscuit · 26/02/2018 08:34

The government gateway messages are your papertrail to prove eligibility. They are dated!!

OK, so if you have these along with evidence that you confirmed your availability to the nursery at appropriate points, then they surely don't have a leg to stand on?

Auspiciouspanda · 26/02/2018 08:35

They’re just going to send the debt to a debt collector which will effect your credit rating. You need to get it sorted out not hide a letter in your drawer.

HuskyMcClusky · 26/02/2018 08:37

No, don’t stick the letter in a drawer! It won’t make the issue go away.

Original poster
QueenofmyPrinces · 26/02/2018 08:37

Thank you everyone.

We had renewed his funding in January as per the 3 month rule.

I had no idea about confirmations being sent to the Gateway Account, that’s really helpful and I shall get DH to look into it.

I appreciate it’s not the nursery’s fault but they should appreciate it’s not our fault either. They should have and should still ring HMRC themselves in my opinion.

OP posts:
WTFIsThisVirus · 26/02/2018 08:38

You cant just ignore it, the nursery could take this further by getting debt collection involved, and then you could end up with a default. It's best to get the necessary proofs, which it doesn't sound like you were doing. It sounds like you were only communicating verbally.

Brokenbiscuit · 26/02/2018 08:42

If indeed you were only communicating orally, let this be a lesson to you - whenever there is any doubt/disagreement, always get stuff in writing. It saves so much hassle later on!

JoJoSM2 · 26/02/2018 08:45

You should have sent them evidence from HMRC in writing to close the case. Otherwise it's just their word against yours and getting into ridiculous situations.

Original poster
QueenofmyPrinces · 26/02/2018 08:49

All communication was via emails so I do have proof of everything that was said between us, including them saying they hadn’t rang HMRC.

OP posts:
Original poster
QueenofmyPrinces · 26/02/2018 08:51

I don’t want to ignore it but DH is adamant that we should.

I think I’m just going to write them a letter detailing the timeline of events and that DH and I aren’t prepared to pay as we did all they asked of us, we had it confirmed DS was eligible, we said we could do no more yet they didn’t communicate HMRC themselves to try and resolve the problem their end.

OP posts:
Viviennemary · 26/02/2018 09:00

You can't ignore it as it may affect your credit rating. I think you are liable for the bill until the HMRC issue is sorted out. But don't pay the bill but keep on trying to get it sorted. Maybe the Citizens Advice Bureau can help. Or you could ring HMRC and say you will be contacting your MP unless it gets sorted quickly. That usually makes them move.

NeedsAsockamnesty · 26/02/2018 09:00

Your husband needs to grow up.
And you need to take equal responsibility for a finance matter that’s both your responsibility.

What grown ups do when a service tells them they are having issues with a funding source for a service their child is actually using is sort it out. A simple way of doing this would have been to pass the code and confirmation email onto the service each time they raise an issue.

I would be gob smacked if there wasn’t a clause in the paperwork you signed saying that ultimately it was your responsibility to sort payment if the funding didn’t happen.

Collaborate · 26/02/2018 09:00

If you ignore them you're inviting them to take you to court.

taytopotato · 26/02/2018 09:02

Confirm via your childcare account
www.gov.uk/sign-in-childcare-account

lostherenow · 26/02/2018 09:04

Is it a charity preschool? If so you are very unlikely to get taken to court etc for the money or have any other consequences, as it would cost the preschool too much time and money to do anything about it. However I would talk to HMRC and the preschool again as to leave them without funding for work they have done just means other parents are having to cover that loss. If its a charity preschool with a parent committee then the finance person is probably a volunteer and a parent themselves so they may not have a couple of hours free to ring HMRC on top of all the regular work.

lostherenow · 26/02/2018 09:04

(If its actually a private nursery, ie a profit making business run entirely by paid staff then I would leave it.)

JoJoSM2 · 26/02/2018 09:05

Really, don't get into tit for tat - you said this, I said that, you're lying, it's not our job to do this, you do that etc or ignore it. Just a simple email passing on a form or letter from HMRC to confirm your eligibility will be a simple solution.

HeadDreamer · 26/02/2018 09:05

I don’t think the nursery is lying. HMRC is completely and utterly incompetent. I use the tax free childcare account and for some mysterious reasons I have no top ups for two months. HMRC won’t sort it and just say to apply for compensation. Good luck with the idiots.