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!

But a course can be a couple of hours online at any time of day. If she's physically out of the house and on a course that is different.

You could tell them exactly what you’ve explained here. They may give you an opportunity to pay it up with a monthly contribution. No harm in asking.

3 months

Register as self employed it gives you a 12 month grace period.

As long as she has a legal business (which I imagine she’d be aware of), otherwise it’s fraud

Why can’t you get Universal Credit if you live apart and you don’t work? Are your savings over 16K? Can’t think of anything else law that would disqualify you

Doesnt sound the course started in March when she lost her job, and didn't seem they even thought at all about a backup plan and preferred to remain blissfully unaware that if you sit at home and cant afford to pay nursery, maybe taking the child out or at the very least reducing hours would have been a solution to begin with?

If your partner doesn't live with you and you are classed as a single parent, his earnings and employment status are irrelevant . As a working single parent you would have been entitled to the free 30 hpw in your own right.

As another post said, you have to reconfirm every three months that you are still eligible.

The entire process is administered by HMRC, regardless of whether it’s funded via local authority. It would still be HMRC claiming the money back.

I mean what were you expecting to happen if you’ve both left work and been out of work? That your child could continue to go for months for free??

It doesn’t work because you don’t live or claim together. I didn’t once live with my child’s dad and he has nothing to do with the funding hours. I got 30 hours for free because I worked full time.

I don’t understand the brain cells in some people’s heads. It’s as though they sent their child to nursery to sit on a “ course” but also the free time.

Sure - but my point is, if OP confirmed in mid April, say, that she had lost her job, the three month grace period would cover her for the whole of the summer term, till mid July. If she had stretch funding, that amount would be spread out until 31 Aug. I don’t think it would disappear, as that would be treating stretched funding at a disadvantage to termly funding.

So the first time that she “shouldn’t” get funding would be 1 Sep onwards (whether she confirmed mid July that she was still out of work or didn’t confirm at all, her eligibility would cease from 1 Sep. As nothing has been paid since 1 Sep, I don’t think she has any public money to repay.

So its either 2 working parents or 1 if its a single parent household

Your Grace period will have ended in the July ot Aug.

But if neither of you are employed why do you need DC in nursery 3 days?

But yes you need to pay it

Yes actually looks like you’re right in that your grace period runs to end of 31 August if your ineligibility becomes invalid between 11 Feb and 26 May.

Table A, paragraph A1.22–A1.24
www.gov.uk/government/publications/early-education-and-childcare--2/early-education-and-childcare-valid-from-1-april-2026

You need to get your sh*t together if you are making expensive and basic admin errors like this then how do you expect to handle working.

It is difficult with kids, but many many people manage to hold down jobs whilst caring for young kids and keep on top of personal and work admin (Continous professional development) requirements, so you can't expect to be any different. You just have to accept that your priority once they are asleep in the evening is admin, job hunting and education.

He still has joint responsibility for their child.

I can't understand how you are saying you didn't know how long the grace period was when you have not even bothered to Google it, ask nursery or read the reconfirmation messages since March. If you didn't know you needed to find out before you got the bill not after.

You absolutely will be eligible for UC if you’re not together. You’ll be eligible as a single parent even if you own your home (you just won’t get the housing element)

The OP has applied for the grand total of 40 jobs since redundancy in March and attended one interview. Even the OP admitted its not something they have been putting effort into. We have no idea how many hours a week this course involves - it could be a couple of hours a week. Full time recognised training can attract additional support for childcare so presumably not a full time course and the OP isn't planning to even start looking for work until its finished - most people apply in anticipation of training finishing.

As you say - the 15 hours applies to SAHPs as well but the problem with the OP is the lack of info and lack of answering very straightforward questions about her circumstances which can affect benefits. The OP has had nearly six months to check out her situation including the three monthly responses to prompt her.

She has a partner or boyfriend but hasn't answered whether or not they share a home.
We don't know if he is the child's father or if someone else is paying child support.
We don't know why despite both of them being unemployed UC is not an option for her.

Its difficult to help someone who doesn't answer relevant questions to the situation and seems to be doing very little to help themselves.

The problem with taking a child out of nursery when looking for work is that if you find work you then might not be able to find another nursery place to enable you to start the job.

I can see why the op doesn’t want to take her out but financially it sounds like there is no other option.

If he doesn’t live with you and isn’t on your tenancy/council tax/bills etc then technically aren’t you classed as single so would be entitled to some UC for you?

It’s not different. There are two parents who are currently out of work, with one of them doing a course, although we don’t know how much time that actually involves. People reading this are understandably going to feel frustrated seeing two non-working parents attempting to use taxpayer-funded childcare, particularly when it seems one is out of work voluntarily.

No because the other partner can look after the children.

why did he quit his job before he’d found another?

Well clearly they aren’t which was the whole point of the thread. Why do taxpayers fund this? Well helping reduce the extortionate cost of childcare makes it easier for parents, but especially women, to work or increase their hours. Parents in work improves outcomes for children. Improved outcomes for children reduces future levels of crime and deprivation and increased future tax receipts. Improving things for families (which is actually the majority of us) improves the wealth of everyone.