Nursery made a huge mistake on their fees - Kids already started

[looking4answers24]

Hi
I am looking for some advice on a really worrying situation.
We reserved a place for our 2.4yo child in a Nursery after viewing several others in June 2024. The start date was August 2024.

We received confirmation that the fees would be £100 a month after including 15 hours free childcare for 2 days a week. We double and triple checked this amount with the nursery in writing via email (they even provided us with an invoice stating the expected fees as from Sept), before we committed and before we started sending our child there.
Now, they sent us an invoice for Sept requesting £400, which is a shock.
The nursery manager called to say it was their mistake bla bla bla.
But I am now in a position where this amount is way above our budget and our child has also already getting used to the nursery and on top of that, it is impossible to find another nursery for an immediate start even if we did think about moving over. In addition to that, the amount of stress this is causing us - we had everything planned with our workplaces and the nursery so that the childcare works for us. PS: Its apparently an Outstanding nursery and has been nominated for some awards too. Now, I have the feeling, they enticed us with a fake lower price, once we have sent our child and we have no other option, they drop the bombshell on us that the price is actually 4 times more.
What can/should we do? Where do we go from here?
Seriously looking for some help and advice here.

Thanks

Wow that sounds A LOT!
If that 15 hours covers 1 day, the second day works out at around 115 per day.
Can I ask, whereabouts are you?

Our nursery is pretty reasonably priced compared to some and I pay £580 a month (before tax-free portion) for DD(2) to go two days a week year round minus two weeks over Christmas without any free hours.

DD1 was £215-odd a month for 3 full days with 30 free hours until she left in August.

Is your price before or after the government 20% comes off?

Our preschool used to invoice for a term of fees, so 3 months worth at a time, you can usually split the invoice and pay a monthly direct debit. Have you asked them if the charge is for a term?

Dgs goes 3 days a week and gets 15 free hours. The cost to dd is over £700 per month still. However it's a really good nursery and will occasionally swap a day if necessary.

18 hours a week.
11 hours funded.
£8.50 per hour for the remaining 7 hours.
£2.50 per funded hour.
£87 a week it works out at.

Without funding its £76.50 a day 9-6.

Mine goes for 3 days a week and now we have his funding his free 15 hours, our bill for September was £492 so yours does sound about right to be honest.

Because we want our child to continue with nursery throughout the half term and summer breaks, etc, their accounts have splits the funding across the year so it means he's technically getting less funded hours each week but it just means we're not going to have any huge £700 + bills over xmas/summer. I'm guessing yours has done the same.

But I'm a bit confused, because I would have expected them to show you a price list before you enrolled him where it would have been clear what the cost of each day was plus food. I can't imagine they would have from the very beginning just said it would be £100.

Have they not shared a price list? Our nursery has a price list showing exactly the cost for funded sessions etc.

We've just got the first monthly invoice after getting the funding and paid £36 for 2 mornings (7.30am-1pm) a week. Which seems very reasonable looking at some of these prices!! Considering we get 20% off that price too because of the tax free gov account.

As I understand it you get 15 hours a week for 38 weeks of the year. Most nurseries spread that over the year unless you want term time only.

If you are contracted for the whole year then that's just under 11 hours a week.

If you send them 2 days a week for 8 hours then you are 5 hours short a week so approximately 20 hours short a month - - that shortfall has to come from somewhere. Add to that all the charges nurseries are allowed to levy - food, trips, nappies etc. - it's steep but I wouldn't' say it's totally outrageous. Also don't forget that nurseries have to charge a far higher fee for the paid hours to even break even on the ludicrously low amount that they get for the "free" 15 hours let alone the 30 hours now coming in

However, in your situation I'd be pretty pissed off if I'd done my sums on the basis of what I was told in writing. It's good they're honouring September at least. Good luck finding another place if that's what you choose to do

yours sound a bit more expensive than mine. Where are you?
Hours are 8am to 6pm.
11 hours free funding.

basically, If my child is going there every Monday and Tuesday in September 8-6, it will cost me £364 for September.
I am in london IG6.

I’m southwest, if I put her in 8-6 it’s another £17 a week. But I don’t start work until 10 so 9 is fine for us luckily.

She’ll be doing Tuesday and Thursday at £377 a week. But that’s not including the 20% tax thingy.

Its a 51-week/year nursery. So my 15 hours/week are effectively 11 hours/week and I send my child 8-6pm. The nursery charges daily and considers Day 1 as free and charges me around £80 for Day 2 of every week, thus £364 per month.

So you have 20 contact hours of which 9 are unfunded hours a week, OP?

That is 39 unfunded hours a month (9x52/12) - I am ignoring the Xmas week.

Which would make your unfunded hours cost £9.33 each if funded hours were completely free. Or something like £8.36 an hour if you pay a supplement of £1 per “free” hour.

Does that maths sound about right?

Yes, that sounds about right.

They will work it out on the hourly rate which is the fully day cost divided by the opening hours.

15 hours a week funding stretched is 11
25 hours per week.

If your child does full days then they will add their two full day hours together, deduct 11.25 hours then charge you for the remaining hours at the hourly rate plus lunches if they charge for those for funded children

You will also still have to pay bank holidays if the setting is closed too, unless they specifically say they don't charge for them.

This is an huge mistake. You definitely have a right to demand to pay the original amount, at least for the current month.
However, there's a difference between what's right and what's realistic.
Even disregarding the waiting list, are there any other more affordable options in the area at all? If not, you will want to stay at your nursery long term and you won't get in their good standing by lawyering up.

Our nursery is amazing, but they are apparently absolutely unable to tell ahead of time how much the fees for a 3 year old are with the "free" hours.

This highlights how bad the government policy is. Instead of "free hours", they should just give every child a set amount of a subsidy. This would eliminate a lot of confusion and admin for nurseries. Most nurseries are open all year round, and the hourly amount they receive for the "free" hours doesn't cover their actual costs so they are forced to invent ridiculous, non-transparent ways of getting parents to make additional contributions, such as having to call any other fees "lunch" fee etc.

The numbers quoted on here are correct. I used to pay £72 per day and then when I got 15 hours when DS turned 3 it went down to £42 per day for 2 days with any additional days at the full £72.

It means an average month with 8 days attended costs me £336 as I don’t qualify for the 20% tax free reduction. If I sent him full time it would cost me £1300 per month even with the free hours.

If the child’s in 2 days a week that’s a max of 20 hours really. If 15 hours are covered free then you’re only paying for 5 hours per week there for 20 hours per month.

Assuming 10 hours days you’re paying for 2 days of nursery a month. If there trying to charge you £400 per month then there charging £200 per day which is crazy.

£50 per day is more likely than £200.

You need to ask for a breakdown of the fees. See exactly how they’ve calculated the £400. Perhaps your free hours have been missed.

This has literally just happened to me. What was the outcome? Did you just have to pay the £400? I want to complain to Ofsted.

Why complain to Ofsted? They’re not interested in contractual or financial disputes and nor should they be. That’s not their remit.