15 hours free - apparently optional?

[user765]

Please can someone help - I have a 3 yr old (4 next month and starting school in Sep). He gets the 15 hours free preschool hours. He also got the 30 hours free when he was 2yrs old.

Anyway, he attends 3 full days at preschool, which is the full 15 hours, since I understand each day is 2.5 hrs am + 2.5 hrs pm and I pay for the lunch cover.

I also pay for healthy snack at 2 per day, totalling 6 per week.

Last month my bill was £144 🧐

I was told I hadn’t reconfirmed my childcare on the gov website (I definitely done this but apparently didn’t do it properly or something). So I’ve had to pay the £144 bill, which is a strain as I’m on my own and kids’ dad does not pay any maintence.

Is there any way I can claim some of this money back? Eg through tax credits or something?

I have asked the preschool to explain their bill as they have over-billed me several times and made several errors accidentally adding extra things to bills (and not just on my bill I add). However, they have assured me that this bill is correct and have explained it all to me but I still don’t understand, then they said ‘well the 15 hrs is optional and it is not mandatory for settings to adopt the policy and offer the free hours’!

Thanks

I'm a childminder and my understanding is that the standard 15 hours is available to all 3 and 4 year olds. The nursery has to claim the payment for these hours from the Local Authority but there is no reconfirming with the Government required by the parents once you are in the system.

The extra 15 hours to get 30 hours of childcare is a bit more complex. Parents must be working and every 3 months need to reconfirm with HMRC to confirm they are still working and they receive an eligibility code. The nursery need this code and can check online that it is still valid.

If you are only claiming 15 hours of childcare what the nursery has told you does not make sense and does not seem correct.

I suggest you go back to them and state:

1. that you only use the 15 hours of Universal Early Education.

1. You are not claiming any Extended hours of childcare.

3 Point out to them that there is no need for you to confirm eligibility with the Government if only the Universal hours are claimed.

If they haven't correctly claimed then that is there problem not yours.

I'm also a bit confused as we are already part way through a term. If it's term time care they should be claiming payment within the first few days of the term starting ie January and they get paid for Jan, Feb and March. The next term starts in April.

• their (not there).

They are correct that they don't have to offer the hours, but you should know whether they are or not. Renewing the code for 30 hours is up to parents and if you get this you should have had a reminder from hmrc.

Thank you for your replies. I am only claiming the 15 hours as my boy is 3 yrs old. I didn’t have to do any of this for my little girl when she attended the same preschool and was not slapped with any whopping bills!

Also the bill was for last half term (spring 1-jan - Feb half term).

What you have said makes sense as the preschool have mentioned ‘extended’ hours and I was under the impression that I was claiming them, but I’m actually not as I’m only claiming 15.

I live in quite an affluent area and other parents have warned in the past to check the bills. I think a lot of parents do just pay without questioning it. I feel bad about constantly querying them but am going to have to. I know they will say they can’t refund me because I’ve paid it now though

If they have overcharged you, they certainly can refund you. They shouldn't complain about you asking for clarification of your bill.

They have made a mistake universal funding g of 15 hours you dont do anything once you sign the initial paperwork. Your child must be 3 before the start of the term....ours is 1st September, 1st January and 1st april. So anyone born on 2nd 2017 would wait to start of next term regardless of published term dates.

1. There isn’t a 30 hours free for 2 year olds.

1. You don’t need a code reconfirming for 15 hours.

1. Their invoices should be transparent- ask again!

U don't need to reconfirm for the universal 15 hours. I would imagine this bill is for the consumables you mention which would've been due regardless of reconfirmation of codes etc. This will be due every month and yes you could use UC or tax free childcare to help towards the costs

11.25 ours would be claimable as free if your child attends during school holidays as well. As the 25 hours is only funded for the equivalent of 39 academic weeks.
So you may actually be better off claiming for the extra to Top Up to 30 hours as you wouldn't then be paying for the extra 3.75 hours a week.
On my calculations, it looks likely they have charged the 3.75x6 weeks if say a rate of approx £5/hour.plus snacks could actually mean that you owe them more than they have invoiced.
You can claim fees via uc and tax credits.