Nursery buggered up their invoice...

[VioletPickles]

Just a rant really! I spend the year saving for Christmas. Accumulate a wee bit for treats gifts etc.

But the littlest one dd3, just started a new nursery in Nov. 1st invoice, all good, paid on time. However, they've just sent an email saying there was an admin error, they'd missed off a day, and just added it to the one due 31st Dec! It's over £500 quid! I know I should have checked the first one properly but I didn't. What an idiot.

Now all my savings has to go the nursery and I feel a bit sick about it. Hate the thought of that bill, amongst everything else hanging over me. The joys of working full time.

As I say, just a rant. My dh is fairly non communicative so I thought I'd tell you guys instead.

How is one extra day costing £500?!

£500! For one day?!

What would you expect the invoice to be? What was the last invoice? Our nursery was hopeless with invoicing - once over summer tried to bill us £800 for three days. Ridiculous.

Double check with them. Compare it to the November invoice. Ask them to explain the difference.

Then, if the bill is ‘right’ (though I don’t see how it could be...), ask if they’d accept payment in instalments?

I'm guessing OP means a day a week?

Oh yes, a day per week, sorry. Then they've added it to what's due this month. I should have checked and I'm so annoyed at myself. Hate money worries!

Are you using your free hours OP? And the tax free childcare element too- meaning you pay through the online portal?
I only ask as my DS is 3, we both work so have the 30 free hours... however didn’t realise that we could also use the tax free childcare element paying through the online portal. So now we are saving £80 a month!! (For every £8 you put in the gov puts in £2).

Ok, an extra day a week makes sense!

I would definitely ask to split the extra over 2 or 3 months- it’s Christmas, it’s their error, it’s the first invoice they messed up on so comparison was tricky and understandable you missed it. They should be accommodating.

She's only 2 so not qualifying for free hours yet, and I'm not doing the online thing? I didn't know about it, I'll have to Google. I'm in Scotland if that makes a difference. @nosquirrels I'm going to email to see if we can have a bit longer to pay..

I'd tell them you can't afford it and ask them to spread it out over the next few months

This is the link for Tax Free Childcare- www.gov.uk/get-tax-free-childcare. Check with the nursery if they are signed up to receive it. You pay 80% of the bill into the TFC account, it then tops up with 20% the next working day and then you transfer it from the online account to the nursery.

You can apply in Scotland too, sorry Op when you said DD3- I thought you meant aged three! As the previous poster said above the link is correct.
It’s the “new” childcare vouchers essentially as these are being stopped! Saves us at the min £80 , just kicked myself that I never knew before!

Just explain that you can't pay it at once and ask if they will let you set up a payment plan as of January. I'm a nursery manager and would have suggested this before giving you a bill with that much extra on.

I would deff ask to pay it over a month or 2 or even in January, as it was their mistake.

Is the actual underpayment £250 and the bill is £500 more because the December bill is correct and not £250 down? If so can’t imagine the nursery is going to be hugely sympathetic to a payment plan for any aspect of the December bill.

Our nursery did this - didn't invoice us properly for a couple of months and ended up owing £800! We spread the cost over 6 months so paid a bit extra each month until it was cleared.