Arrears

[Puppy]

Hello all,

Has any childminders ever took somebody to court over arrears?

The mother asked if she could pay at the end of the month as where she works was changing her from weekly to monthly pay so having to go for a month with no wage. I thought fair enough as she normally is spot on for payments.

At the end of the month I asked for payment and she said she would bring it in the following week, she did not turn up and wasn't answering her phone calls, I finally managed to get through and she brought part of it round. She had stopped bringing her DD with no notice to me, she had finished her job and had told me she wished to terminate contract as she was going to move to Glasgow for a new start.
I gave her till yesterday (by writing) to pay me the arrears and to give me the termination of contract letter. She did not turn up again . I called her with no reply and then received a texted from her say she only has £2 to her name and that her ex husband was trying to get a overdraft to cover the arrears. I am really fed up now and thinking whether to send a letter threatening court action, or to ring the father whos name is also on the contract, but thinking of what to say to him, im useless on the phone
The thing is I'm wondering if it costs alot of money to take somebody to court, we are scraping by as it is, but I know its the principle of it all.

Puppy - do you use NCMA contracts? If so you get free legal representaion in the petty courts!

yeah i have NCMA contracts, thats good then, thanks lunavix, My problem is they never signed the attendance register much always wanted to get out of the way really quick.

Taking someone throught the small claims court is relatively easy and costs £150, the fee is then added to the amount that they owe you. If I were you I'd write to the father, send the letter recorded delivery to make sure he gets it, explain the situation etc and give him to the end of the month to settle the account, tell him if you don't get the month you'll be left with no alternative but to take the matter further and additional costs will be added to the debt. HTH

Think I will try that first littlemiss thanks, tell you what no i'm not going to be flexible in any circumstances anymore.

I have drawn the following letter up, what do you think? , I asm going to send a copy to each parent with a little note separatly asking for termination of contract letter as i can't act on word of mouth, and also to remind them that i am running a business.

Dear Parent,
The amount of £516.37 is well overdue, I have now given you till Friday 3rd June 2005, If I have received no payment by then I will be left with no choice but to take further action with the small claims court, I have to warn you that any additional costs may be added to the debt.

yea puppy, that sounds good

£516.37.
that is terrible, we used a child minder for 2 years, and i considered payment to her to be a priority simply because it was her wages.
There were times when i delayed paying other bills in order to pay her.
I hope you get your money.

Good luck - I lost about £25 on my first children (not enough to take action on) and since then have only accepted money up front in advance.

I hope it sorts out for you - money problems are the worst bit of the job

This what you need to do

It is a County Court Summons, you need Adobe PDF to download it.

Fill it out, and tell her that you will have no compunction about submitting to the County Court.

That's a appalling - please take her to court if you need to.

I know lots of parents behave badly over payment/hours - my childminder's told me - but this really takes the biscuit. I am so sorry.

I always insist payment up front but, thought a one off from somebody who is normally a good payer won't hurt, boy i was wrong.
Thanks for link LGJ will look at that this evening when DS is in bed.
I also have not as yet received a letter of termination of contract, Only by mouth and also will be stating that I can not act on the word of mouth and the longer she leaves it the more she will mount up. I'm worried that she will move to Glasgow shortly and then I will not know her address. I will definatly given them till the 3rd june then promptly take court action

Don't give her until 3rd of June, download the PDF.......................NOW .....and give her 7 days.

Update for all that are interested,

I sent a letter to each parent by recorded delivery with warning of court action.

I the next evening, I received a phone call by the father, he was really upset and apologetic (sp?) he said he had been giving her money each week to pay myself and towards their daughters necessities, and at the weekend he also gave her hundreds for bits and pieces. He said that the mother had gone upto scotland and she had told him that she would be back at the weekend, but he doubts this, shes left him with all the bills to sort, bank accounts etc.
But as far as I'm concerned with the arrears, he is setting up a standing order to pay me in three monthly installments, I am happy with this.H also was shocked that the mother had not terminated contract before now with her redundancy and is also going to write a termination of contract for me.
So things are looking like they are getting sorted now.
I would also like to thank you all again for the replies and advice you have given me.

Glad you're getting the money at last. Feel sorry for the hubby though, poor man.

So do I ssd, wish I had contacted him earlier, he really had no idea of what she was doing, poor chap he also does npt know whether he'll get to say goodbye to his dd this weekend, I really hope he does.

i too am glad its sorted and agree with others ... poor man!