Nursery want ££ s in back payment due to their miscalculations. Help!

[StationeryNerd]

Hello, This is my sister's account so please excuse.
Can anyone help me know where I stand?: our nursery provider has asked for a chunky sum of money. They have said it's because they've been undercharging us. We moved from 3 days to 4 earlier in the year, which I told them in writing. They've now said they've wrongly still been charging us for 3 days so they want the extra back. What do I do, is there any precedent for challenging it?

We didn't notice the error ourselves because it landed at the time the government 15 / 30 hours funding came in, as well as our tax-free childcare allowance so we just assumed it was correct given those 2 variables too.

I just don't have £2,300 spare!

My argument still stands. I can absolutely GUARANTEE you that OP would have noticed had she been overcharged!

What are you wanting to challenge?

You don't have an argument you have a negative opinion. Point is - even the actual nursery who was invoicing for services rendered - couldn't even get it right? One hundred per cent possible for someone to not notice something like this- you're relying on the fact that someone is invoicing you? The OP isn't doing them out of anything - their accounts department is incompetent.

Doesn't the invoice say the number of days they have provided child care?

Double check the invoices - my nursery charged me wrong the first month DD1 got 15 hours and then the month DD1 got 30 and DD2 got 15. I managed to work out what it should be and show it was wrong, but between stretched hours, “top up” fees that aren’t a top up that vary based on the age of the child and whether they have lunch, the fact the hours don’t cover the whole session etc - it’s a minefield and I can see how you’d assume 3 days at full price would be broadly the same as 4 with the funded hours if you just glanced.

I don't think you should have to pay it. Going forward yes, but they will have to swallow the costs as it's their error. Totally not fair to expect you to pay retrospectively.

Check the figures and if they're right that you've underpaid, you do need to pay back. But as it's their mistake they should accept payments rather than one lump sum.

How did you not notice your bill increasing by 33%?

Just ask for a payment plan.

Don’t beat yourself up for not noticing. When DS started at his new nursery I had to ask ours if they’d applied the 15 hours correctly as I was so confused by it and even with going over it several times to try to figure that out I still failed to notice that a sibling discount had been applied twice so we underpaid. I don’t know what it is with nursery invoices but they’re something else! I would ask for a breakdown of the invoices so you can double check it’s correct, if they’ve made a mistake once maybe they have again, if they haven’t I expect you’ll have to pay but I would ask to set up a payment plan.

If you'd been OVERCHARGED £2300 would you expect it to be paid back?

So they’ve invoiced you and you paid the invoice.
It also looks like they aren’t clear on how much they’re supposed to charge people if 2~3 people have had different amounts for similar time spent at nursery.

Id keep in touch with the other parents you mentioned.
Id also ask them for a detailed invoice for each months they are querying. And one for the coming month.
Id also ask a clear breakdown of the costs in general (how much per day, deductions etc….) so there is clarity on how much you’ll be invoiced.

Ethically, I’d want to pay what it was supposed to be. But you clearly have grounds for asking that back payment to be staggered.
On legal grounds, I’m not sure they have a leg to stand on as they provided the invoice. But someone more knowledgeable on the law side might have more info,