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!

Is the man you call not really a partner your children's father?

Does he pay child maintenance if they are his?

If he's not their father why did you rely on him to fund nursery fees, and why did he stop working when he was paying?

Say you’re self employed as you’re trying for your own business and have been from March - this gives you a year. I know people won’t like this but it’s a workaround. Childcare rules are a disgrace.

But if you are not working your children can stay at home or you can take the 15 hours.

I'm sure your 'grace' period is over.

Have you got a job coach or someone to help you back to work?

Surely anyone can say that?
It's a con!

It would only work if you had to register with HMRC and set up self assessment as a sole trader.

It´s not that it´s their responsibility, but as a business I am sure they wouldn´t want a client to accrue debt that maybe will never get paid...

Why did he quit his job

I may be wrong but won’t get uc as left on own accord

are you actually together or not ?

Many of us had no tax payers' money towards childcare. It didn't exist back then.
I took some time off work then started work in the evening when DC was a year. No family to help out. Many of my generation had to make hard choices on living on one salary or finding work that could be fitted around nursery at 3+.

Highly appropriate response. asking why someone packed in their job when they have a family to support and the other person is not working is not ridiculous.

But really hits the nail on the head.

@extraordinarymachine26 It's taken me 30 seconds to find this online.
If you stopped work by the end of march, your funding finishes 31 August.

That means , if the info you have given here is accurate, it stopped 5 weeks ago.
If you stopped work before the end of March it would have stopped before end of August.

As your boyfriend doesn't live with you and is perhaps not your children's father, his work doesn't count anyway.

Agree tbh. I hope you can get a payment plan, but you should pay the bill.

No, even if he does millions of hours. We were at the same situation and had to move to 15 funded hours. I heard that if partner does 32+16 should be enough unfortunately, my husband did 50+ weekly and it's not true.

It’s really not how it works…. You ask parents for their code. You apply the code. The funding comes through to the nursery. In this instance they applied the code and it didn’t work. Managing this side of things in a nursery is really quite complex but it does rely on the parents being up to date with all of their information. It is the parents responsibility not the nurseries. That is very clear on any documentation relating to the government funding. You can look it up on the website it is all there. This is not the nursery’s fault. Nurseries are on their knees at the moment and don’t need people like you blaming us for parental incompetence

What kind of course are you doing ?
I know some courses will pay for childcare to let you study .

Whether a childcare grant is available depends on what course OP is doing. Not all types of courses are eligible.

She's on a course!

Plus as long as someone is paying the bill, having childcare in place whilst job hunting is really useful. Especially for a pre-schooler.

yes that is the 15 funded hours per week term time starting the term after their 3rd birthday. Sounds like ops child is just three so will be eligible from the first of Jan.

There's not sufficient info to advise really, since the partner "isn't really a partner" and your child isn't living with you.

Who is he living with? Who gets the CB? Does partner live with you? What type of course are you on? Are you receiving any out of work benefits?

No it has to be both partners working as they assume with one at Holme they are capable of doing the child care. Even with disability they don’t allow one parent at home for free hours

I’m so confused. Who does the child live with and why do you use a nursery when you don’t work?

Where does OP say her child doesn't live with her?

It' her partner (though she says he's not really a partner) who doesn't live with them.

What IS ridiculous is someone expecting the tax payer to subsidise childcare when at least 1 parent is unemployed, even more so when both parents are!

The child has two parents not in work. By ‘someone’ I suppose you mean all of us idiot tax payers

Some poster has misread and posted wrongly.

The op's boyfriend doesn't live with her or the children.

Oh!

In which case, all that grace period has definitely been used up then!