30 hour funding - never went through, not told for 6 months £2500 arrears built. AIBU to say it's not all my fault?

[Rainbowloverparentx]

Nursery 30hr funding issues with nursery provider.

Hi, I have a 4 year old in a nursery setting.

To note, I have mental health difficulties, awaiting an assessment for ADHD and Autism (I'm 26 F) and a phyiscal disability.

She's been there since she was 2.5, I was eligible for the 2 year funding due to low income.

I got back into work and had to up my child's hours.

I fell into some arrears and was notified of the 30hrs for working parents. First off, I wasn't eligible, then I went onto a full time contract and applied and was eligible.

I attended the nursery to drop my daughter off and they said I needed to sign a form and then they'd be able to access the funding.

I applied in August 2023 and signed this prior to September they told me they needed it done for then for the new term.

No one told me I needed to supply a code for them to access it.

They nursery has 3 or 4 other settings, 1 was recently closed by Ofsted due to being inadequate. Our nursery manger left in August.

I had no invoice from August-Jan.

Months go by and fast forward to late December, I get a call which I miss and an email stating I'm in substantial arrears.

I reply stating I will be able to make a payment at the end of December, still, no one made me aware of a total amount outstanding.

I then was subject to an assault at work, where I required medical attention and substantial after effects from the injury. I had time off work and therefore was unable to pay.

She makes contact again and tells me she needs my child's 30hr code, as she hasn't got it and therefore from September to January. I actually did not have any additional funding and therefore my arrears accrued over £2,500.

I have signed another confirmation since then as its every 3 months and not once, did anyone ask me for the code.

I did not even know I needed a code, I should of read all the information better but I have now been made aware it is the nursery at fault.

As they have a something called a 'headcount' to check the register and who requires the funding prior to it being put in.

This means, someone could of and should of made contact with me during August/September to make me aware they needed the code.

No one ever did.

No invoices, no communication for months, which therefore I was under the assumption no further bill was needed to be paid.

I still have no figure, I just expressed my frustration to which she just apologised for and then I set up a repayment plan for what I could afford as I was threatened with them reducing my daughters hours and therefore I'd be unable to work, unable to make any further payments and just be totally screwed.

I'm wondering, am I really the one at fault here?
Is it worth consulting a solicitor or something regarding this?

Thanks, a very stressed and anxious parent.

I can only assume this is what I signed at the door.

I understand my error and my fault.

But not a single person asked me for a code or even mentioned it. I didn't even tell them I'd done th3 funding, I just turned up one day and was asked to sign the form. If they'd of mentionedd it then I'd of done it! I wasn't trying to pull a fast one.

But I can't understand why no one invoiced or picked it up before August. Surely it would have been noticed in September or October latest.

It appears the code should still be valid and therefore I will explain this to the council in hopes they will support me more than the nursery have in finding a suitable and reasonable solution.

I'm.not trying to.catch you out, I'm trying to follow what happened.

You've been given sympathy and advice which is great and hopefully makes you feel better. However not all of it is true and I feel like by contradicting it, you will just think I'm being mean so I won't and will just leave you to find out yourself.

Best wishes.

This is a really good point OP, and as PP have said with good advice you could use this to help you maybe get the payments down. They are absolutely at fault in this part of the problem by not supplying you invoices!

As someone with forgetfull tendencies I had a couple occasions where I filled in the online portal or last minute.....op you get bombarded with reminders by text message and email which if you have an account you would have got.

You may find that they'll be able to claim the £2,500 from government if you supply or the codes to them now but you need to take responsibility for the fact your an adults and didn't follow the system. Their you child's nursery, not yours.

Also @Rainbowloverparentx I've just read that they haven't even told you how much you owe in full? So how many the threaten to terminate or decrease your child's hours.

How can you pay a debt when you don't know how much it is?

The more I'm reading the more I think the nursery are at fault here. And you could have a case against them at small claims, but it would mean probably terminating your child's place and looking for a new nursery.

That's what I'd do anyway if they seem shit since the manager left. You said yourself that there was a part that needed improving from OFSTED.

I'd probably write a very well worded letter stating that you weren't invoiced, you're still not being invoiced, and you had zero communication from them. If they aren't looking at their books, checking each month that each parent had paid, then they sound shit. Where's their attention to detail.

I did reconfirm it via a notification in my email.

In my initial post I was so overwhelmed that I hadn't broken down all the information. So I had done it but I had not supplied a code. The only communication I have had was about the reconfirmation none of the code bits went to my direct email just the portal!

I understand its mostly my fault and I am responsible just a shame it took 6 months doe them to notice.

I think your previous comments have made me have my back up a little.

I'm not stating I don't want to hear factual information, I just am a bit upset to find people getting personal.

It's stressful as it is without people stating additional personal factors.

So am I not able to claim it back?

No!

I had an email stating I was in substantial arrears and I need to clear off a significant amount of they will reduce my child's hours.

No invoice or amount showing total owed or a breakdown from August to Jan.

If so, I would have noticed and definitely would have been my fault for not supplying the code! But I was not aware in anyway.

I so understand I did not supply the code, but I did everything else and I was just under the assumption no invoice was required but appears I should have had a detailed invoiced each month regardless and therefore this would have been picked up a lot earlier!

She leaves for school in September, I'd like to look into somewhere else but that means they would get her funding til end of term etc and I would need to pay additional childcare alongside trying to clear these arrears.

For clarity that was the other nursery out of 3/4 that was shut down by Ofsted, I assume our good manager was sent their to get it out of special measures and back on its feet!

I will be writing a very strong worded email, I believe I'll make contact with Citizens advice and see if they can help me write a letter as I struggle with conciseness as everyone has seem here!

Thank you for your help

I'm really glad I came here.

I was just going to pay it and be resentful for the whole situation.

I will raise this further with them as if I was invoiced appropriately I would of noticed way earlier and liklihood they would have also!

I'm not sure what outcome I want, but even just an acknowledgement for their errors instead of just sorry you are frustrated and no means of support in it.

Claiming back for previous terms is not possible. However if you can prove that you claimed correctly and it's the nursery at fault for not processing your claim then you might be able to get the costs waived. That would be a civil claim though.

U.sure if I have replied to this one but:

Reconfirmed each time
Signed their documentation.
Have emails and proof on portal I have.

I think you're right but also unsure how I approach this with them moving forward!

They've already threatened my child's place and I have no idea how much is even outstanding! I have already with her father agreed to some sort of payment plan.

He now also doesn't want to make any further payments and wants to get into this more.

I can understand I am liable for supplying the code but I do also feel they are liable for allowing it to build for such a substantial amount of time and then come at me with no real information and threats, when they understand my disabilities and struggles, its been a lot of stress that I haven't needed!

I have emails and messages on the childcare portal stating I have the funding confirmed from August, reconfirmed in November and now until late Feb.

So the funding has been open this whole time, I believe it is likely they have provided her on the headcount and now have they/council have realised.

I am confused on how I prove that though. The messages here are so conflicting I can't understand if it's me who is entirely at fault.

I had not a single invoice in this period to explain any funding or anything else.

Who would I be able yo talk to this about appropriately?

Unfortunately funding cannot be backdated. Childcare providers have a certain date whereby they have to input the children's details in order to get the funding for them for the following term. This is called headcount day. The provider checks eligibility, and it usually flags up if a childs eligibility code hasn't been reactivated by a parent so the provider can then mention it to the parent. Your nursery could have done this, however if they have a lot of children on funding then it's not always practical so the onus is on the parent to check it- they do send out emails every 3 months to remind parents. Did you sign up to funding through the Childcare Choices site? That's where you are supposed to do it. My daughter has ADHD and I fully understand where you're coming from - I have to help her with a lot of admin - but unfortunately nursery won't be interested in that.
To be honest I think you're both at fault- nursery for not following up, and yourself for not querying the lack of invoices if you were receiving them beforehand. I'm sure nursery will set up a payment plan for you..

I would move your child to another nursery & let them chase you for the money and let them take you to small claims. I'm sure their case will not be great and even in the unlikely scenario you are ordered to pay, it won't be any more than the £2500 they are claiming now, there's no damages, and you can arrange a payment plan.

Ah, that's so painful. I wad made aware I could contact them as the code has been open but the nursery didn't have it in hopes they'd backdate it because it was eligible.

Did via Childcare choices and reconfirmed in November. I stupidly didn't open one unopened welcome message with the code. I had no communication from August to late Dec and no notification of how much was owed.

January they contacted and made me drop my daughters hours, still no idea of amount owed.

Was paying a top up for the 3phrs funding so just assumed it had all gone through and no arrears were accruing as no invoice.

Big learning curve.

Gutted though.

Good morning OP,
your code is clearly in date and valid.
You have the emails as evidence and your local authority can also check the validity of your code their end.
This is the most important thing.
The nursery should be able to supply the code to the Funding team retrospectively. Ask them to speak with them and sort it out.
They are running a business and should know better of the process to ensure they get paid, and should’ve asked you for the code from the get go!
Yes, you should’ve given them the code, but as a parent, it can me extremely confusing the whole funded hours business,and if you don’t know, you don’t know.
Good luck!
p.s. I work for Family Information Service, feel free to private message me.

Op the form the nursery asked you to sign CLEARLY asks for the funding code. It's not their fault you didn't bother to read the form and complete it fully. You must have left that line blank

Also, you're completely misunderstanding what headcount week means. It is where the nursery apply for all eligible funding but if you didn't complete the form correctly (with your code) they wouldn't have known you were eligible for funding. Plenty of people aren't eligible for funding so a nursery not having a code for a child at headcount wouldn't cause a query at all. They would assume it was one of many children not eligible and therefore not subject to headcount

. It appears likely they've claimed funding for her via their headcounts.

just to add, they have definitely NOT claimed funding for her "via their headcount". They CANNOT claim funding without the code that you failed to provide. Also they couldn't have claimed the funding in November even if they'd noticed all this as the deadline is September. It is NOT claimed monthly, it's termly. The government are extremely strict on their deadlines and there is very little chance of putting in a successful late claim

They literally asked me to sign it, looked at it and let me go.

At the end of the day, surely the person who fulfill the admin tasks, when noticed, should of contacted me to ask? Noted a lot of nurseries here ro make contact, especially if not gone through for 5 months!

I'm getting a lot on conflicting advice but I'm going to go by what @B1984 @TinaOutOfOffice have stated as they appear to work in the field and have given unbiased and non personal perspectives factored in.

It's worth contacting and asking, the code has been live and the funding has been in place, it can't harm to.

I also wasn't asked to read it! Okay, my mistake! But you'd think, someone that does probably in the tens per week of the dates would state it if it was or there and important! All I was told was to sign it.

So, I may be forgetful, but im not lazy or trying to pull a fast one like you may already assume.

To be quite honest, your comments seem more just personal than factual.

I'll take on board the comments that an non biased and non personal.

No need to mix the two!

You might not like what I'm saying but it is factual. It is my actual real life job to put in funding claims for a nursery. I don't think I've made any personal comments about you

You can contact the local authority funding team and see if they'll pay the nursery a late claim. They may or may not do this. In my experience it is unlikely.