Unreliable Nanny Paid in Advance - refusing refund

[confusedfirsttimebuyer]

Good evening , I booked a Nanny to provide care for my daughter and paid for a months invoice. During the first week - she failed to turn up to pick up and sent another nanny who does not drive in her place without notice and as a result I had to pay for an uber.

She then subsequently cancelled school pick up with less than 10 mins notice, resulting in me asking a neighbour to take my daughter to school instead again she was late.
I sent her a message immediately stating that I wish to terminate the working relationship and requesting a refund for unused sessions with a weeks notice before the next booking.

She is now declining to issue a refund for the unused sessions - we have no contract in place and she had no mention of cancellation policy on her invoice or during our discussions.

What options do I have to reclaim costs?
She seemed polite and reliable so I was excited to start this working relationship.

Where did you find this nanny? What kind of checks did you do on her before employing her? Normally nannies would be employed and you would pay them in arrears and they would have a contract and receive payslips. Your mention of an invoice suggests that this is some kind of agency arrangement? Is this your first time employing a nanny, I’m a bit shocked that you would’ve taken someone on without a contract.

Technically you are right to expect a refund as she hadn't delivered the service you could reasonably expect, but why on earth is there no written contract? She sounds very dodgy and unlikely to behave well now so getting your money back might be hard. Thank goodness nothing worse happened.

Good evening,
I found her via a Facebook group
She is a ofsted registered childminder, had a clear enhanced DBS and provided a reference from previous family.
It was my first time employing a nanny and I was a bit desperate as my mum who usually helps with childcare found a new job that was a great opportunity for her but required an immediate start.

Is she a childminder or a nanny? Because if she is a nanny then you don’t just pay an invoice - you need to employ her, and usually would use a nanny payroll company to manage that for you (pay, NI contributions, tax etc) paid in arrears, not in advance.

You’re not doing any of that, are you?
You’re not getting the money back.

What about the random person she sent in her place? Did you know anything about that person before you sent your child off with them in an Uber?

She definitely sounds like a childminder, not a nanny.

send her a letter before action (there are templates available) and take her to small claims court.

We had agreed that she would do the morning and another non ofsted registered childminder/nanny who she put me in contact with- who i again interviewed, reviewed dbs, qualifications and got a reference for from the previous nursery that she worked at would do the pick up.
On the first day without prior agreement, the pick up nanny who has no car turned up at the agreed time to do drop off - so I had to get an uber to avoid my daughter being late

I'd definitely inform Ofsted what she had done and take her to court via money claims online.

You're using the terms nanny and childminder as if they're the same...and they're really quite different. I think being clear on what service she was providing would be a good first step.

It's definitely not a normal nanny setup. Was she doing any childcare or just school runs?

She advertised herself as a ofsted registered nanny, she was getting her ready for school and then dropping her off at school via car.
I cancelled the arrangement 4 days in but she had invoiced me through her limited company as I suppose a childminder would ?

But thanks for the suggestions I will send a letter before action to her ofsted registered address and take it from there

There are important legal differences between a nanny and a childminder. Nannies HAVE to be employed unless it is ad hoc childcare (so a parent might use a nanny agency to cover holiday/sickness like a school would use a supply teacher or for a one off event or a maternity nanny. Nannies provide care in the parents own home.

childminders are self employed and provide care in their home or do school runs. It’s unusual for them to pick up from the parents home.

if this nanny/childminder is a limited company then sending a letter before action is easier as there are extra steps you have to go through with an individual person as opposed to a company.

Very confusing, so there are actually two childcare providers here – one for the morning and one for the afternoon? Are you only paying one invoice to one person and she arranges the payments to the other person? Or do you have two separate arrangements with two people?

Good morning,
One invoice payed directly to the morning nanny who failed to show up twice.
She stated that invoicing her would be easier (through her company/ofsted Reg) and they work out the division of pay amongst themselves.
I will send a letter to her ofsted registered address and take it from there

So, she’s running an ad hoc nanny agency then? She isn’t a nanny for your kids - you’ve engaged an agency for school runs?

Well she was the one scheduled and agreed to do the school runs with getting her ready and dressed for school

If it is an ad hoc childcare agency (which sounds like it is legally) as a nanny is an employee on PAYE, then she is entitled to send a substitute as long as they are suitably vetted and qualified. However, it could easily be argued that as the substitute does not drive and was therefore unable to get your child to school on time, then she is not suitably qualified in that respect.

and the cancellation 9 mins prior is it reasonable to terminate arrangement on this basis with the next session scheduled for the following Thursday ( 6 days notice)
she also did not reply to my messages until 10 days later stating no refunds

In the absence of a written contract I would certainly be arguing that cancellation following failure to provide the agreed service was them breaking the (verbal) contract. But I am not legally qualified.