Childminder terminating contract

[hoolahoolay]

Surely I'm not being unreasonable. So my son is due to start with a childminder next week when I go back to work after maternity leave. We have settling in sessions this week

So she sent the invoice for January out early December and she said to let her know if there were any errors, the due date on the invoice was 1st January. For one reason or another we haven't paid it and instead of reminding us she has messaged this morning to say she's terminated contract as invoice is 5 days late.
Surely she could have sent a payment reminder.

WTF can I do now?

I’m confused and apologies if this has been covered as I haven’t read the full thread. Was the bill on the 1st of January for hours that your lo hasn’t even had with the childminder yet? Paying in advance is odd, what if she is sick and unable to work?

This. She warned you in the contract, which you signed. And then she warned/reminded you again by sending you an invoice with a due date on. And you ignored her.

You fucked this one, and you did it all by yourself.

I completely understand the childminder not taking the risk with a new parent who already hasn't paid the first invoice on time. Chances are she's had this before, had a hard time after as well, and decided not to risk it. Fair enough.

You've shown how much you value her and her time. She relies on payment to meet her own expenses. You said it just hadn't been a priority. In future, make it a priority. Your lack of childcare isn't her problem, her own business is.

Yep! Can you imagine your employer saying to you "For one reason it another, we haven't paid you this month. You should have reminded us to pay you!" 😂

This is a life lesson with childcare...always pay your most important bills first. That would be rent/mortgage and then childcare. If you don't have childcare, you can't go to work 💁

Like someone else said, grovel, pay this month's bill and next month's and promise it won't happen again...

Exactly. This is why there are contracts, and why you should read them. You still sound petulant and like you feel wronged, which is unbelievable really.

Paying in advance is standard for childcare, because you can't take back hours you've already cared for the child if the parent subsequently doesn't pay, and ratios and razorthin margins mean that one nonpaying client can take you under.

Her thinking will be 'start as you mean to go on!'

She's more than likely had a waiting list of people who have been more than willing to pay upfront immediately in the event of any cancellation space becoming available.
Il reiterate what others have said- good child minders are like gold dust and they usually have waiting lists!

You pay in advance otherwise people use you for childcare and then don't pay. Plus the childminder needs to buy food for said child before the child comes.

It wasn’t standard when I used a nursery. Although that was a while ago, things
change. So if the childminder is sick would she deduct it off the following months bill?

Next time you'll pay your bill on time.

Don’t you pay in advance for swimming lessons, yoga classes, gym membership? It’s pretty standard.

I think it’s harsh that the CM didn’t just check in with you before giving the place away. If nothing else then just to check you’d received the invoice and that you hadn’t made a mistake when paying. Seems off that the CM didn’t do this. I hope you can get something else sorted.

I mean that also depends. Good childminders are friends with other childminders. Word spreads about it people who pay late…

she will end up with the type who has a space always.

Probably, as if your swimming teacher had to cancel your lessons.

Tough crowd @hoolahoolay. Smells like
bullshit to me though. I have missed payment of invoices for various reasons hundreds of times in my lifetime and never have I not received a payment reminder, regardless of
how “in demand” the service I was paying for was. My child attends a shedload of clubs, all with long waiting lists that mean her spot would be filled in a heartbeat and even those providers send payment reminders. How many days were you signed up for? My guess is she had another child she preferred for whatever reason - longer hours or maybe even a relative - and used late payment of the invoice as an excuse to cancel your contract. Atrocious behaviour given the impact on you and your child. In fact, no childminder who genuinely cares about children would cancel a contract a week ahead of the start date for non-payment of an invoice over the very busy Christmas period without at least sending a reminder first.

If that is genuinely her policy and she cancels contracts like that, she must have an incredibly high turnover because you will not be the first person to have missed a payment date nor will you be the last. IMO, you and your child have had a lucky escape. Who knows, she might have ended up cancelling because your child didn’t settle in quickly enough or, God forbid, not nap enough. Lucky escape.

When I used contract childcare I paid a month as a deposit and then at the end of each month by invoice . I don’t remember the late paying terms as I paid on time. The deposit was returned in the form of the last month payment when I ended the childcare contract. This system worked well. Why don’t more CM use a deposit system so they have the hours paid for if someone doesn’t pay up? They can then end the contract due to not respecting the payment terms and not be out of pocket.

I’m more baffled that you were so blase about paying knowing that you had already struggled for childcare!

She did warn you, it's in the contract. Good childcare is like hens teeth at the moment. I had my baby down at nursery at 15 weeks pregnant. You're going to have to ring around all the childminders and nurseries in the area until you find somewhere with space (if any). You may even have to split across a couple of settings until more times you need are available at one.

You delayed returning up work because of lack of childcare and when you found some you behave like this? I do feel for you but honestly OP it's time to adult.

Good childminders don’t behave like this though. I have never heard of any business that cancels a contract for late payment without first even double checking the person received an invoice, let alone without sending a payment reminder. Particularly when you’re dealing with children, not eg a hair appointment.

All of which you've just guessed, instead of reading the actual facts that the OP herself has given.

She did confirm that the op received the invoice though as she asked her to check through it and make sure it was all in order

So if the childminder is sick would she deduct it off the following months bill?

Our childminder used to refund for her sickness, yes. If DD was sick which meant she couldn't attend, that was non refundable. Holidays were no fee for the childminders holidays (which she made us aware of in advance), and half fee for our holidays. Im not sure if these are standard policies for childminders, but this was ours.

The nursery DD now attends is different - any holidays we take are full fee, we even have to pay on bank holidays when the nursery is closed. The only non payable week is Christmas week when nursery is closed. The nursery was closed recently actually unexpectedly for a day due to a power cut - we didn't get that day refunded and also needed to source alternative childcare. So I think in general nursery policies are stricter than CMs, certainly in my experience anyway.

The child hasn’t even started though so it’s not like throwing a child out for being six days late. It’s not letting one start who’s parents clearly don’t care about paying the person watching their child on time.

Im sure existing children who have actually been likely get an additional warning but newbies who haven’t started yet. Why would you waste the time to end up with late every time.