childminder moved to a property 5 miles away over the summer. should we pay notice of termination?

[stormers]

Our childminder recently moved five miles away while we were on holiday.
Before the holiday in July, the CM was not sure she when she would be moving, we stated that we would look for other arrangements, but if we could not find any, then we would contact her. This was interpreted by her as ' a request for her to keep us a space for DC'.
When we returned from holiday at the end of august, she confirmed her new address by text. We put it in writing that we had to find new arrangements, due to the distance to the new house. We have no objection using her at her old address which is close, and on the contract we signed and agreed to.
The standard NCMA contract states that if we terminate we must pay 4 weeks notice. However, it is because she has moved, we have not seen the new house. Do we have to pay 4 weeks notice as a result of her moving?
We have agreed to pay 2 weeks termination notice as there may have been a misunderstanding back in july, when we were unsure of how soon move would take, and she thought we asked her to keep a space, when in fact it was a polite cancellation. Please advise.

if they want to vary any thing on the contract you need a new one. didn't say you MADE anyone do anything

A good childminder wouldn't expect to move 5 miles and give notice of that move by text the day before the mindee is due to return from holiday.

A good childminder would give proper notice that they intended to move. They wouldn't just text a new address

which bit of this is my opinion did you not see?

i didn't get that from the op moillie, i got they knew she was moving in advance. if she just moved then she doesn't deserve any notice.

being fair goes both ways

if my childminder just moved i would be very annoyed, but if she gave lots of notice and i had a chance to say i didn't want to continue then it wasnt made clear i was terminating then i would pay

Made up facts always help win an argument.

yes indeed Mollie

I think the best thing to do is speak to a qualified solicitor, maybe one of those free half hour slots? if she just moved ( which you didnt make clear in your op) then you need to clarify this with someone you can be sure is qualified to answer. All we can give you is our opinions.

And you give plenty of those, Amy

sometimes house insurance have free legal helplines you can call.

always lougle!! lol :o

How much notice should a childminder give a parent with regard to moving home? Does that notice start from the time they say they will be moving at some point, or only when the exact address location is given?
Is moving house considered to be termination of contract? If moving 1 mile, is it termination of contract?

There could be many questions like these. Could be a legal minefield as this sort of thing probably isn't mentioned on the contract.

You have agreed to 2 weeks notice payment, so that sounds a good compromise to me, rather than having the stress that going though small claims court procedures may cause.

Its interesting as obviously parents' and childminder's names, addresses, telephone numbers etc are all on the NCMA contract, but I wouldn't have assumed that changing one of those would mean the contract is terminated, as the contract is with the CM, not with the house/telephone number etc (although I completely see that what the house is like is very important when choosing a CM).

I.e. if a parent got married and changed their name it'd be different to whats on the contract - would that invalidate the contract? Or if the CM got a new telephone number? Or if the child is adopted by current carers so their surname changed? Not saying any of these are right or wrong, just wondering legally where you'd stand as technically you'd changed terms on contract?!

I'd say if the CM is still willing to drive to collect your child then they are providing continuity of care and if you're not happy with that then you'd need to give notice/pay in lieu of it.

You are all looking at this from the wrong angle.

Unless the contract says anything different, the change of address is a material change to the terms of the contract. Sufficient notice must be given of any material change, and in this case notice that is less than the termination notice is unlikely to be sufficient.

On the (limited and one-sided) details given, the CM has not given sufficient notice so you cannot be held to payment in lieu of your notice of termination.

I posted on the other thread, but here it is again,

Contract states it remains in force until a new contract is agreed or until termination notice is satisfactorily completed. If a contract is terminated immediately payment in lieu of notice is due, by both sides.

Change of address for insurance can be changed over the phone, it may get 2 weeks to get a new certificate, if it is NCMA, it could whenever they feel like it. ( not an NCMA fan, despite being a member for 25 years)

Childminders MUST advise Ofsted of any changes in their personal or business details within 14 days of the event. They may or may not visit depending on how long ago the last inspection was.

I sold and bought and moved in 2 weeks flat, I minded child came on moving day to the old house and was picked up from the new one! He loved it, thought it was all a great adventure, and helped him settle in really quickly.

Some of my families were on holiday when I moved. I telephoned them and we just changed the address on the contract and both initialled it.

I also just phoned Ofsted and the insurance company with change of address, after risk assessing which we do daily anyway.

Update thanks CM for your advice, been really helpful. It certainly clears things up.
amy175 , we have nothing personal against CM so we will pay two weeks termination. We rang Ofsted today and they advised that they are not allowed to disclose whether the CM certificate has been updated with the new address! so a parent really gets no help from NCMA or Ofsted or CM?
Upon reflection there needs to be good communication between CM and parent. In July, we explained verbally and on Fbook that we would look for new arrangements whenever CM moved, or if CM moved. That if we couldnt get anything else in future we would contact her. At this point the CM should have explained that as there was a contract that the best thing to do would be to terminate in writing, and then later on, if we contacted her we could find out if space available in future. Instead the CM assumed that we meant keep a space open for Sept? and we thought we were being fair letting the CM know in July that we were looking elsewhere!

Update following your advice - contacted Family Information Service, they do not have CM listed in the new area ?? are they really slow maybe its still being posted on their system? maybe the FIS list is wrong / out of date? maybe CM don't need to be on their list of CM?

Stormers - I've only skimmed through and haven't read your other thread so not quite sure why you are getting a hard time from some people but just wanted to say that I wouldn't expect you to have to pay when she is no longer childminding from the premises detailed on your contract. As for Ofsted, no, they can't tell you that information but your local FIS should have the correct info as it's fed in from Ofsted (or at least used to be). I'd have expected them to be concerned and want to check it out if they suspected a CM had moved and not informed Ofsted.

FIS lists are notorious for being wrong/slow to be updated, so not necessarily odd that the details aren't correct yet. Also its not a requirement to be listed there (unless I'm very much mistaken) so she has no need to let them know she's moved.

leeloo - there's a difference between what we get them to list for the public to know about and what they get fed in from Ofsted, well it certainly used to be anyway. Maybe things have changed and/or maybe it's just when we initially register that they get this feed?

Unless we return details to the FIS every THREE months they do not list us in Herts.

It is not compulsory to be on the public list either, there is an opt out box, as some cm's only childmind for family etc