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!

I'm really confused by how you have managed to not realise you were no longer entitled to funding before now. You have to reconfirm your eligibility every 3 months - you left full-time employment more than 6 months ago so what did you say last time you reconfirmed? The questions are really clear and answering the question about being in employment/about to start new employment as "no" would have instantly kicked you out and told you you weren't eligible for the funding anymore. How did you miss that, unless you lied during your reconfirmation window?

@extraordinarymachine26 it would probably be best if you didn't refer to your boyfriend as DP given that he doesn't live with you and doesn't contribute to the household finances - clearly a lot of people are misunderstanding your situation because of referring to him as DP.

You need to focus on doing whatever you can to become eligible for UC. Whatever it is about your current situation that means you aren't eligible, change it. Once you are eligible for UC you will also be eligible for the 30 hours again.

Ok, so in reality he’s not your DP, you’re not a cohabiting couple, so him quitting his job has absolutely nothing to do with you. I’m assuming you claimed the 30 hours as the child lives with you? As for looking for work, your child’s father can look after him half the week and vice versa giving both of you time to look for work. If you’re not eligible for UC my guess is that you received a substantial redundancy payout?

In some situations they do. For example, where there is a couple and one of them meeting the working criteria but the other doesn’t because of a disability and is in receipt of the LCW or LCWRA element of UC. There are some other exceptions too.

What’s your offering then? How would you advise the OP? Maybe you could pay off her nursery debt or look after her child for free yourself?

But her dp is available.

Can you pinpoint exactly where I blamed you? or nurseries? Thanks for the explanation about the code, that ´s interesting. But now that nursery is 2000 down with it´s own outgoings it has to meet. A shit system.

Redundancy pay taking her over the UC threshold?
Being on UC does not automatically qualify you to 30 free hours. You still have to be working (or about to start).

OP won't answer if her partner (who isn't really a partner she said) is their father. I assume not given his irresponsible attitude to his work BUT if they are not living as a couple his work doesn't count towards free nursery at all.

The nursery is 2000 down because the OP did not read the website or the form she has had to fill in every three months.

From the sounds of it you are liable for the nursery bill you have received, having not worked since march.
Your boyfriend's circumstances are irrelevant for the purposes of benefits / nursery entitlement etc because you don't live together.
If he isn't dc's father, then him choosing to quit his job isn't relevant to any of the story.
If he is, he's an idiot for choosing to leave a job without another lined up (when he has a dc to help support).

Up until her child turned 3 recently she wouldn't have been expected to look for work. Once the child turned 3 she'd be expected to be seeking work that fits into term-time-only 30h pw ie within the hours of free nursery care that the UC gives her. I would imagine that any redundancy payment received in March is long since spent surely? Depending on what the course OP is on actually is, it might be that the UC work coach agrees that hours spent on the course count towards the claimant commitment to be actively seeking work, if its a course with a good chance of increasing OP's employability. If it's not a course with a good chance of increasing OP's employability she should abandon it and focus on job hunting anyway.

And? Does that mean he isn’t her parent too? He should still be able to take care of her.

Does he ‘live’ elsewhere but spend all of his time there also…it can be expensive to have the father of your child live with you when you don’t have a job. Im not saying that’s what it is, or that it even matters, but this thread is giving that vibe.

Exactly.

It will be outrageous if the taxpayer steps in to pay the bill.

You will both have to look after your own child.

I'm disgusted that your partner gave up his job, knowing it was the only job between the two of you and straight away, he has his hand in my pocket and you are wringing your hands wondering if there is a way you can put yours in it too and let me pay for your childcare.

If that makes me Major General Frothing at the Mouth from Tunbridge Wells, then so be it and I wager there's more than me feels this way.

If it's only me-which I very much doubt- then at least there is one sane person here-me!

I don't think you get the 30 free hours while you're looking for work, do you?
If she is not on UC now, how can her course be one a work coach has approved?

More to the point, why did husband quit his job after OP was made redundant?

Yes your should have a grace period. I was made redundant in April last year and the code lasted until my child started school in the September. You have to inform your childcare provider though.

I dont think op is coming back now shes been called out.
Us tax payers will pick up the bill and pay through the tooth for her benefits while we struggle ourselves.

Thanks op piss take.

She is not on benefits.
Her idiot of a partner won't be for a period of time at least, because he chose to give up his job.

Is there a reason you're not answering questions about why he quit his job?

IS HE THOUGH 😂

If you are on UC and are meeting the qualifying conditions that you are putting in sufficient efforts towards seeking work then 85% of childcare costs are covered. Whether OP is doing that and whether she has to give up her course to meet that condition will be between her and the work coach. As PP point out, it's actually vital to have this because if OP gets a job she needs to be available to start right away, not having to spend months on a nursery waiting list or weeks settling the child into a new environment - obviously any job offer would immediately melt away! So it is totally sensible for we the taxpayers to be funding nursery for mums who are genuinely doing everything they can to become employed.

The OP, in her opening post, says he is on the new style JSA-whatever that is.

Nursery admin here. There is a grace period and I've found it does vary, no idea why. I would have expected the nursery to ask if you would be renewing your code and let you know when the grace period would be ending so you could discuss what to do in advance. I wouldn't take your DC out completely though, in case you can't get him back in in January.

OK. OP isn't on benefits. JSA is about 90 quid a week. It is contribution based, so he has paid into the system.

He is NOT her husband.

They do not live together.

He is not her partner.

He is her boyfriend.