2k invoice for nursery pls help!

[extraordinarymachine26]

We were eligible for Tax free and 30 free hours. DC just turned 3.
I was made redundant this Mar, DP quit his job this August (so now none of us are in paid employment).

AFAIK there is a grace period for the 30 free hours, we were paying normal rate until this wk (Oct) nursery said the code doesn't work anymore and now they have send us a £2,300 bill for this month (3 days per week PLUS the shortfall for Sep now that apparently we didn't have funding then).

Am I right in there being a grace period for these 30 free hours or will we just have to suck up and pay the below and probably take DC out of nursery ASAP as this is in no way affordable for 2 unemployed ppl!

We are not entitled to UC but DP is on New style JSA (and looking for work but unlikely to find something till 2027 given the current market).

Anyone with any advice would be welcome!

Why is child in nursery if youre not working and christmas is coming so.plenty of jobs...why does he get to leave his job

Why did you think a man that doesn't live with you would qualify you for the 30 hours your really lucky its only just over 2k they want back if you stopped working in March!

Why an earth would be quit? Also I doubt your entitled to any more hours sorry.

I’m amazed by the casual way that you suggest committing fraud.

If you aren’t living together then your circumstances might be based on just you. The grace period covers around three months. If your child isn’t three yet you could get a two year golden ticket otherwise they will be eligible for the 15 hours the term after they turn three.

If your partner is considered to be with you then you both need to be working to claim 30 hours funding.

If your grace period ran out before the end of August you definitely won’t get funding for this term as you’d need a new code before end of August.

I believe 30 hours funding is primarily aimed to allow parents to work but two year golden tickets and 15 hours universal funding are to allow the child to access early years education.

Many of our parents have tried to keep children in once a week to keep them settled in your circumstances but it’s hard without funding to pay for the sessions.

But they don't work??? so people who do work subsidise childcare for people who stay at home? and some of these mugs who are on 100k+ don't have this free childcare themselves?

Oh I don’t object to funding working parents & I understand all the arguments. But the OP left work in March. And the tax payer has stomached the cost since then.

So I don’t think there’s much you can do about the bill you’ve received, I think you’ll have to pay it.
I would take your little one out of private and sign them up for a preschool nursery at school instead, that’s actually 30 hours free for any child over 3, regardless if you’re working or not, term time only,

Good luck with job hunting!

The taxpayer hasn’t taken on any cost for OP that she wasn’t entitled to. as she was made redundant in March, she has a grace period, which covered her summer term funding (stretched funding means this is paid until 31/8). Thereafter OP has not been able to validly claim the free hours and has not received that claim.

You can argue that “the system” should stop paying the free hours without any grace period, but I assume that would be unworkable if eg a parent had a series of contracts that had a short gap between. You could argue that the grace period is too long. But it is what it is, at present, and OP has not had more payments than she is allowed.

Why do you need childcare if neither of you work?

Bearing in mind you can’t just take kids out of nursery for a month and have them start again due to waiting lists/place shortages so I think a grace period is only fair.
The partner quitting his job for what we can see is no good reason though is crazy with a child to support and a partner who is out of work.

@LiquoriceAllsorts2 yes, agree that the partner quitting is crazy (though as he doesn’t live with OP and the DC, his actions don’t impact the free childcare hours)

No very true, would make the invoice/fees easier to afford though.
I don’t know the free hours scheme well but op said she’s doing a course. Does studying qualify for free hours?

Some courses yes but I think it is only if it includes a ‘work’ element. Eg. Nursing or childcare where you are working and learning The 30 funded hours is specifically for working parents so there has to be at least 16 hours of paid work. There are other schemes available for student parents with some for students under 20 for example.

It depends when your job ended and when the last eligibility period ended.
If you've reconfirmed continuously on time (before the previous 3 months eligibility ended) you're entitled to the funded hours until the end of that term. Possibly a grace period for the next term.
Basically if your eligibility ended in August or earlier you have no entitlement for the September term but the nursery MIGHT give you a grace period until end of December.
If you left work in March you've already had a grace period for the April to September term because you aren't entitled once you stop work.

How is your DH getting JSA if he quit his job? I didn't think that was an option?

Look up ‘new style jsa’ this is for 6 months only and tied to your NI contributions

You still have to show that there was a valid reason to quit the job.

@CrowLeftOfTheMurder it’s not up to the nursery to give her a grace period. The nursery sends a funded hour claim for all kids to its LA and if any DC is no longer funded under the scheme (including any grace period) then the LA won’t pay.

Oh I didn't realise!

But entirely true...

It’s not a lot - only about £100 a week I think.

Thanks to those for the useful responses, yes - my issue was not fully understanding the grace period & when it ended.
Needless to say, my gripe was more about finding out almost 6 weeks in that the code no longer worked, if I had known it had expired I would've reduced days immediately but perhaps they don't find out until later/not sure how it works so that's beside the point.
Anyhow, we will be footing the latest bill & will reduce DC to 2 days or less until our eligibility for universal 15h kicks in or a job is found whichever is sooner.
As for not having DC around FT, anyone with a toddler knows it's difficult to get stuff done (other than some housework/cooking) let alone sitting for 2-3h in front of a laptop in peace trying to apply for jobs etc when they're pulling at your leg every 10mins to play with them hence, I'm keen to keep some childcare but realise it will have to be full price for now 🤷‍♀️.

There are a lot of questions that remain unanswered.

In your first post you say 'We are entitled to..'

If your boyfriend (you posted he is not 'really a partner' ) is not living with you he is irrelevant to the free hours. Your entitlement is based on you as a single parent. Either 15 or 30 hours depending on the hours you work.

You did change the date when you stopped working in your posts- from last year to March 26. A few posters picked upon that just to query which was correct.

Is he your children's father?

If so, he could spend time with them so that gives you time to apply for jobs. Especially as he's not working. There are also evenings to do that.

You're not in a different situation to anyone who is already working and applies for jobs- they do that in the evening or at a weekend.

The dates when you would lose the free hours are online and it appears you overlooked that information - it's set out very clearly.

Hopefully you will find a job soon and your children can remain in nursery.

You have 3 months as you have to confirm every 3 months on the government portal. If you have been confirming every 3 months that you're working and you haven't been, be aware that the government may ask you to pay back all the funded hours you've illegally used as you haven't been working.
If you haven't been going onto the government childcare account and confirming every 3 months then you're lucky the code has lasted this long. You may still be slapped with a bill (unless you can say you were working self-employed if that time. You would have to register for self assessment though)