Nursery have been undercharging us - where do we stand?

[IwishIwasmoreorganised]

DS goes to a nursery at my workplace.

I pay as much of his fees as I can using the childcare voucher scheme which my employer is a member of.

The remainder of the fees are taken from my pay and this is arranged directly between nursery and payroll.

Today I have had a letter informing me that for the past 6 months, they have been undercharging us by £37 a month and can we make arrangements to pay this back (roughly £200 in total). DH is away all week, and I'd like to speak to them tomorrow to get it sorted so I need some advice please.

Where do I stand regarding this?

a) does it have to be paid back immediately?

b) can I offer to pay it back in installments - say over 6 months as that's how long the problem seems to have been going on for?

c) (this is a longshot but worth asking!) as they have made the mistake, do I have to pay it back at all?

Thanks for anyone who can advise me about this.

I'm no expert on this (so might be completely wrong), but had experience of a colleague being overpaid. I think you have to pay it back. It is a bit unfair in my opinion as its not your mistake but legally the fact that you didn't realise cannot be used as an excuse. But as you suggest I'm sure you can suggest to pay it in instalments (they should accept this as it is not your fault).

I hope that helps. You could check on trading standards website or similar, they may have advice.

Taking your questions in reverse order, you agreed to pay their fees so it is likely that you will have to pay back the underpayment even though it was their mistake, in much the same way as you have to pay back any underpayment for gas and electricity even if it was the supplier's fault for setting the direct debit too low. You can, of course, ask them if they will waive some or all of the underpayment as it was their mistake but if they insist on the full amount then that is what you will have to pay.

You are on stronger ground regarding offering to pay in instalments. If they were to take you to court for the underpayment it is likely that the court would allow you to pay in instalments, especially if it would cause hardship to pay in one go. It would therefore be sensible for them to accept a reasonable offer, although you can't force them to do so.

Thanks for your replies.

I didn't really think I had any chance of not paying it - but just wanted some other peoples opinions to confirm that!

I think I'll ask to pay it back in installments. It wouldn't cause huge amounts of hardship to pay it all in one go, it would just need a good bit of budgeting to let a lump sum like that go out in one go, but if we could do it over a few months, it would be easier to absorb it iykwim.