To delay paying childminder

[Harmonyrays]

On day two of my ds being with his new childminder I receive an invoice for the entire month. Is this normal? I'd expected to get it at the end of the month. I've only just gone back to work and don't get paid until then.

AIBU to delay paying until the 30th?

A friend of mine was a childminder and she started charging for a month upfront as she had several people who booked their children in, sent them for a month and then just withdrew the child and never paid her or contacted her again. Presumably they'd then just move onto another childminder. Cheeky fuckers!

Op didn’t come back? Surprise surprise!

Either way its completely irrelevant what is the norm in other industries.

You can decide before signing a contract whether or not to accept any service provider's terms and conditions. If you don't want to pay in advance, or can't, then you don't sign up with a service provider who requires that.

Also solicitors, accountants and bigger businesses will have people employed to chase up invoices as part of their job. No childminder would have that kind of resource.

Solicitors most certainly do get paid in advance. Fixed fee work almost always is. Actually this is one of the major reasons the profession has been willing to adopt fixed fees. It's sold as being more advantageous to the client, which for the most part it is, but it's also better for cash flow.

We pay our nursery in advance, which is absolutely fair enough. The first month before going back to work was tight, as was this past month (increased my hours at work but have had to pay for increased childcare without being paid yet).

One of my lovely friends has just set up as a CM, and has just had to ask for payment in advance, due to:

• People cancelling days at the last minute- “don’t need you tomorrow now. Sorry”
• People not paying for days she’s already done- she’s going to have to go to court to chase one of them.

It’s sad, but a financial commitment means that people are more likely to stick to the arrangements.

This is absolute normal and believe it’s what Pacey recommend.

The OP is very familiar to a situation I’m dealing with for a client at the moment. Except in that instance the family have not yet paid for any of the care they’ve received over the past two months either so if they want to keep their space they absolutely need to pay upfront from
now on or will have their contract terminated. Which is exactly why CMs usually opt for payment upfront. You’re booking a service. It’s the same reason why you also
pay CMs retainers to keep your space.

In my experience CMs will be flexible on payment dates as long as you actually communicate with them.

It's normal. She's a self employed business. If she gave 4 weeks credit to everyone starting new she wouldn't have a business to run for long. People do try and bump off the childminder by not paying, so by ensuring payment is made in advance gives her a bit of security for that 28 day period. --

In addition, it's 28 days notice (standard) to end the contract so your never going to be out of pocket anyway iykwim.

Presumably you sat down and discussed terms and conditions with her including payment terms?

There are plenty childminders out there, if you really don't agree with paying for the care in advance then feel free to find one that works in arrears/credit (Needle in a haystack)

Oh and yes yabu to delay payment!

Not paying someone who has sole charge of your child is not a good move and will create bad feeling.

Talk to her. She might accept weekly payment in advance rather than monthly for you.

Yep always payment in advance. You'd be surprised how many families try not to pay for their childcare!

It's normal to pay a month in advance for childcare.

Mine use to let me pay at the end of the month but was with her for 9 years. She was wonderful.. Sad to leave her but DC at high school now. We did different hours each month so sometimes did not know what it would be. She would bill me end of the month.. Saying that though I use to do childcare vouchers mainly so would always send her the same amount each month so could have credit term time with her and when the school holidays came i would pay vouchers and cash at the end of the each month if i owed anything.

This is the problem when people don't read the contract they sign and then the cm has to keep reminding them of the terms of their contract, it's infuriating!

I paid mine on Monday morning for care between Monday and Friday.

"I’ve only just gone back to work and don’t get paid until then." (ie the end of the month.

Were you in receipt of maternity pay?

I don’t pay for any services in advance

I expect you pay many services in advance.
Ever paid for a holiday? Bought train or plane tickets? Got married and had to book things in advance? Been shopping? Got a mortgage or pay rent? Got kids who have swimming/music/sports lessons? Do they go to clubs?

There are lots of goods/services that are paid for in advance. Childcare is often one of them. Nobody forced you to use these services, but if you do, it’s normal for many things to pay in advance.

I pay my nursery in arears. Most services are paid in arears (electricity, gas, professional services like legal and accounting services).

But of course cm are special. They should be paid a month before they do the work and for when they are not even working. Even though they are self employed that doesn’t mean they don’t get paid holidays like employed people. They should get all of the benefits of self employment but none of the drawbacks.

Oh and if you don’t like it they will stop providing childcare so you will be unable to get to work and could lose your job. Because cm have bills you see.

Anything I haven’t covered?

Zsazsajuju - you really do have a stick up your ass about childminders don’t you??

What a shame.

I actually think there is plenty you haven’t covered. But I don’t think you want to know. You aren’t going to change your mind so I am not going to bother correcting you xx

Well zsazsa, if you don't like the terms you don't have to use them. And turns out you don't, you use a nursery.

So what the fuck is your problem?

Holidays are not paid in arrears nor is stuff like gyms or personal trainers.

Maybe you would have a point if a sizeable minority were not piss takers and courts would make it easier to recover money from no payers we would not have this problem.

Aka you owe someone money they get to dock your wages a decent amount to pay you (if they don't have the funds) none of this token £5 a week payments which would take years to clear the average one month cost of a child minder.

Tough shit if you go into debt you should not have used a service that you cant or wont pay for but the current system is so shit that it is near impossable to get money out of none payers. (you dont pay a builder they don't complete the work, you don't pay ICT people, photographers other services they can keep your stuff you have ordered) You cannot keep hold of a child until the parents pay there debt.

So the only good option is making parents pay in advance to stop the sizeable CFers out there taking advantage

Just to clarify, It’s not me with the problem, Laurie It’s op with her grabby childminder.

Snoopy- what a weird post. Please do enlighten us as to why cm are so special if it’s such a shame that I don’t realise (apparently due to a “stick up my ass”). Or is it simply that they are taking advantage of women’s need for childcare by providing inflexible and non competitive terms (which Wouldn’t be permitted in other industries)

Failing - a real business ina competitive market doesn’t get to offer terms that don’t suit the customers! Why should anyone pay for a “space”. That’s not a service. And good luck getting your money back if the cm has breached the contract.

I think it’s a bit rich to call me an asshole because I think cm should follow the same rules as everyone else. I glad you don’t look after my kid with a mouth like that!

I’ve alway paid my rent in advance, the same way as I’ve paid nursery fees/child minder in advance

I don’t think many people would be moaning at paying a months rent upfront why should a childminder be any different?

Zsaz, I'm not a childminder so you don't need to worry about my mouth dear.

Believe me though, if I was I definitely wouldn't want you as a client!!!

You are still spectacularly missing the point.

Childminders. Are. Independent. Self Employed. Sole Traders.

They don't have to do 'what everyone else does' whoever 'they' are!! Clients choose their own childcare provider fgs, nothing is forced...you either accept the terms or you don't and you go elsewhere but what is not on is accepting the terms then failing to stick to them!

I'm not sure if you are perhaps not in the uk and getting confused with how things work overseas but uk childcare is generally paid in advance.
Childminders have very limited spaces.