Do most parents pay on time or am I unusual?

[m0therofdragons]

We've recently moved from after school club to a cm. I have 3 dc so it's a significant amount to pay each month. Cm gives me an invoice mid month ish and I pay within a week (allowing for money to move through gov tax free childcare account).

We have a WhatsApp group set up by cm for generic messages so this month cm is sending reminders on 31 May that payment is due the following day. I pmd her to check money had arrived as I'm not sure how reliable government thing is - all fine. Then a few parents start messaging really lame excuses why they'll be paying late. I was at how people treat the woman caring for their dc. Surely paying her is a top priority?! Is my cm unlucky or us this generally how people behave?

I've always paid as soon as I receive the invoice. If I've got enough time to check my emails, I've got enough time to transfer the funds too.

My CM is always so grateful though, which makes me think perhaps it is unusual!

Tbh if I have parents who habitually pay late they would receive a warning then I would refuse care until bill was paid .

That said I haven’t had any that do that . Vouchers etc do take extra time to go through so some can’t pay till they are paid.

I pay mine weekly, I make sure the standing order is set to go in 2 days before it has to so I can deal with anything unexpected that may crop up. I would feel absolutely awful if I was even a day late paying.

I’m gobsmacked she has a WhatsApp group to deal with this kind of issue! Very unprofessional.

Tbh I’m on the same boat as her, every single month I have to chase.

They are lucky, our nursery charges £25 if the payment is a day late ( we fell foul of this as we didn’t realise it would take a few days to clear from the govt scheme when we first started using it!)

I'm a cm, and my experience is the parents on a tight budget pay on time.

Those with more income (remember, we know what parents jobs are) are the last to pay,and often need reminding.

It's a pain in the arse.

Thanks OP for being punctual.

When I was a nanny I practically had to beg for my wages and heard every excuse going. I wonder what would happen if I just didn't turn up, the mum was a teacher and am sure she relied on her wages, but she didn't mind messing me around, I never understood it.

I used to have To go to her house on my day off for my wages 😳

I know this is why many cleaners insist on cash. Not to avoid tax as so often claimed on here, but so they get paid on the day.

I have 6 families that I childmind for. Payment is due on the 1st of the month. 3 families have paid in full, 1 parent has paid their bank transfer but still waiting for their voucher to clear. 2 families nothing yet (one will bank transfer, one will send voucher).
I am unsurprised that other childminders have issues to be honest. It doesn’t matter if I send bills out a day in advance, a few days in advance, at the beginning of the month for the next month or give a list of how much childcare will cost for the next 12 payments. Some parents just can’t be bothered to pay on time and do not appreciate that the vouchers take a few days to clear once they have instructed the payment to be sent. I also know the parents who are struggling (and pay on time) and those who are higher rate taxpayers and having 3 abroad holidays a year (the one who is late). One of the families who now pay on time, every month: mum normally paid, but dad did the majority of drop offs/pick ups. I asked dad to check why I hadn’t been paid yet, when it was already late and he was furious I had been treated so badly. I’ve never been paid late again by that family.

It is shocking how many people think it is acceptable to pay their childcare late and I keep thinking I should put high penalties on those who show much disregard for my income. If childcare was refused because of late payments, parents wouldn’t be able to go to work and if they told the truth about the reason why, I expect they would be highly embarrassed.

I will add one of my parents were significantly underpaid by UC a few months ago there suggestion was for my parents not to pay me that month 🙄. While w do love my job I do need paying to pay my bills

WhatsApp was purely for a generic reminder it's payday and thank you to those who have paid. I then private messaged to check my bit, 2 families chose to reply within the group, which is not what they're supposed to do.

the same families pay regularly late. Those who always pay on time, if late, have a good reason and are very honest about it. Those who regularly pay late always find some lame excuses.

I've never, ever been late paying. I would be mortified.

However, I'm surprised by the 'invoicing' thing. I've always paid the same amount every month (or week).

I think it makes business sense to fine any late payers, automatically. It might sharpen the mind.

Georgie......a generic reminder that payments are due tomorrow is fine, no names are mentioned and payment isnt late it's just a friendly reminder to all....the parents choose to answer on whattsapp group rather than a private message, surprising but their choice out of the cms control and possibly and indication that they dont think it's a big deal or unacceptable to pay late as they are happy to tell everyone. I'd be issuing a late payment fee and refuse care until brought up to date.

I only ever had one set of parents who were a late payer.

They were routinely late in collecting their child aswell.

I used to apply quite hefty late fees to both on the following months invoice. £1 a minute for every minute they were late and a £5 daily late fee for payments. I really disliked them for it. Their child wasn’t very nice either. They are part of the reason I gave up minding and went back to full time employment. If I had wanted to carry in minding I would have given them notice.