Problems with childminder - please help.

[Cleanerrates]

I hired a childminder beginning of June to look after my 2 dc aged 3 and 5, children had settled in ok, childminder seemed lovely and everything seemed to be going just fine until last Wednesday 18th she sent me a text in the morning, 45 minutes before I was supposed to drop dc off saying that another job opportunity had come up and she could no longer childmind my dc. I called her straight away and she just said sorry and she could give me names of other childminders I could contact, I asked her if really was quitting with immediate effect and she said yes, shell shocked the conversation ended there.
Now problem is there was never a written contract in place, she did mention we needed to draw one up and sign it and I did ask a couple of times when that was going to happen but it never materialised and I stupidly wasn’t firm enough with chasing her for it, this is my first experience of hiring a childminder so I was a bit naive.
I haven’t been able to go into work since she quit, my DH is a higher earner than me so doesn’t make sense for him to take time off work for me to go to work, my parents are elderly so I can’t rely on them for childcare, I’m literally stuck at the moment. Next contact i had with childminder was me texting asking to collect dc belongings and her agreeing to which I did last Friday, she ended up screaming at me saying I had been cold towards her in my text and she had tried to help by offering other childminder contacts, I said I hadn’t been rude to her but understandably I am annoyed as she didn’t give me any notice and I now can’t go into work, she shouted that I was on ‘probation’ so she didn’t have to give me notice and stormed back in her house.
I’ve now recived a message from childminder asking me to pay for Monday 16th and Tuesday 17th childcare. DH is fuming and said we are not to pay out of principle as I have now lost earnings due to her suddenly quitting, I’m a little more softer than DH and even though I am angry about the situation am thinking I should pay this incase she can take me to court or something plus she did have the dc those two days so morally we should pay? DH is adamant we are not paying it and if she puts in a claim then I am to counter claim for loss of earnings. Can anyone help with this mess of a situation please?

At the very least OP I would also report her to Ofsted/local council.

That's really shoddy behaviour from her.

The council and Ofsted don't get involved in contract disputes or payment issues.

I agree, in that I would make a formal complaint to Ofstead in addition to the local council! How long has she been registered OP? Maybe she was just out of her depth caring for young children or has personal issues?!

Just a thought OP. She says you were in the probation period but I doubt she has any proof of that. Given that your children had been there since the start of June so at least 6 weeks (?) it would be "reasonable" to expect that the notice period should be at least 1 month. My childminder had a notice period of 2 months (after the first month of "work"). I have friends with childminders and they have similar. So to verbally state (after the effect) that you're on probation, doesn't seem in keeping with other childminders or reasonable. I also think that it would be pretty unusual and that I would hope a judge would question it. Anyway I hope that's food for thought for your claim.

Well she’s lied in her claim and said she offered to work the notice but I text back and refused so I guess she’s kind of shot herself in the foot there then as I have proof of her text quitting immediately and no reply from me refusing and then her admittance in the claim that she offered me notice so therefore the verbal contact obviously did mention a months notice from each party.

Like I said earlier she hastily put a claim in 40 minutes after I text so she obviously didn’t think through the lies carefully enough.

Just an update - I’ve paid the outstanding monies owed even though DH was still adamant it should be decided in court. Decided I wanted my conscious clear and if I decide to put a claim in for loss of earnings (DH is saying we must) I can say I did everything above board, although that did take persuading from some of you.

I just really hope I can reap something back or at least if I did take it to court or report her to Ofsted that she would get a formal warning (I don’t know how Ofsted works) because I fear she will just do this again to another poor family.

I would go against the grain and say that you might need to pay her and get receipts of every single occasion that she had your children, as well as her ofsted registration. Otherwise if HMRC ever ask you to provide evidence for tax credits or something, you would have to go back to her.

I would now go to Ofsted or who she will have had to have approval from to become a CM and put in a complaint.

Oops typo *Ofsted

Ofsted will reject any such complaint as it's outside their remit. Childminders are self-employed so Ofsted have no involvement whatsoever in contract issues or payment disputes. They won't get involved and they certainly won't give her a warning. Ofsted are there to check that childminders meet the registration requirements, are providing safe care, and - in the case of under fives - are delivering the EYFS portion of the National Curriculum. It is down to the individual childminder to set his/her own conditions of use, including notice periods and payment requirements. It's not nice that she's left you in the lurch like this but it's not an Ofsted issue.

Re: notice periods. My contracts stated that I operated a four week probation period and during this period either side could terminate our agreement at any time and for any reason with no notice period required and they would only have to pay for hours used. Once the four week had passed then four weeks paid notice was required, regardless of whether or not my services were used in those four weeks. This is fairly standard for most childminders, there are a few variations of the theme but the majority I know operate on that basis so you could argue that as this is (more or less) the industry standard you had the reasonable expectation that you would be given a minimum of four weeks notice. Usually the only exception to this syndtd clause is cases where care cannot continue such as persistent non-payment of fees, serious breeches of contract (e.g., threats of violence), sudden illness, and so on - basically exceptional circumstances. "I have a new job" would not be exceptional circumstances.

I hope she realises she'll have to pay you more then you've paid her but I fear she thinks she's scared you into paying and is happily laughing to herself.

She probably is laughing to herself, I paid it as I intend to put a claim in myself and wanted my actions to be above board, admittedly I did hesitate with sending payment though.

You'll also owe her the court fee, as you've admitted the claim. that's a bit silly. Would have been far far easier to issue a counter-claim.

Make sure that you send a proper and detailed letter before action, itemising your specific losses.

Yep counter claim was the way to go then offer mediation. It's closed now as you've admitted you owe her. You'll need to open one and pay the costs.

Wouldn't pay her. Your counter claim would be worse for her. You have an unspoken contract, based on how often you pay her, which is the notice she should have given you. So if you pay her once a month she should owe you a month's notice etc. Plus, if she does file a claim then you have the option of mediation before that... And you can settle anytime without actually going to court. So let her sweat it out a bit... And don't pay.

Did she ever mention anything about a probation period before she shouted at you about it?

Do you have legal insurance on your house insurance? That can be good for this sort of thing...

Sadly as the OP as admitted liability she will now need too issue her own claim (at her expense) And she will have a far harder time claiming as she will have on record that she broke the contract so while it would not rule out the possibility of the OP winning she has severally weakened her case.

Ok I’m a bit confused - I did owe her that money I never denied that so she probably would have won her case so I’m not sure why I have weakened my case as I have strong evidence to say she broke the contract.
I would have had to pay if I opened up my own case or counterclaimed - hopefully I can recoup that back from her if my case is successful.

Nope no mention of a probation period, we didn’t discuss that at our initial meeting.

No you wouldn't have had to pay if you'd counter claimed. If you counter claim for more, assuming your loss of earnings was more than the unpaid bill, what you owe her wouldn't have been knocked off what she owes you. It's immaterial. She's got your money.

Replied on my old thread how did that bloody happen!!!!