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Preschool education

Get advice from other Mumsnetters to find the best nursery for your child on our Preschool forum.

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Original poster

Parent showing no intention of paying for sessions - WWYD?

15 replies

scarletlilybug · 19/10/2008 20:21

That's it really.
I'm a treasurer at a pre-school and we have some parents overdue with their fees.
One of them owes £250 and has shown no sign of intending to pay, despite several reminders and threats of extra fines for late payment.

Could we ask her to withdraw her child if no money is forthcoming? I'd feel really mean... but what else can we do? And would that be legal, in any case?

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lucykate · 19/10/2008 20:23

i think you can say her child cannot attend until overdue fees are paid. i know the pre-school ds goes to issued letters last week to parents who have yet to pay saying their place will be suspended after half term if they do not pay up immediately.

lou031205 · 19/10/2008 20:24

Ours has a policy that you are invoiced half-termly, and if no payment within 2 weeks of invoice the place is cancelled.

CatMandu · 19/10/2008 20:24

Are your fee's paid termly? If so, perhaps the next step is to say something like, I wondered if you'd find it easier to pay monthly which is something we do on occasion rather than have to ask you to remove your child. Then if you don't get any further you'll have to ask for payment by a certain date or the child is removed. It's not easy, I've been there.

bythepowerofgreyskull · 19/10/2008 20:29

Our Pre-school had this situation last year.

we agreed as a committee that the Chair should be there on the Monday morning to let the lady know that she needed to pay before the end of the day or the child would not be admitted to any further sessions until the bill was settled.

The Chair did that and no money was forthcoming, so she was there the following morning and had to turn the mother and child away. At the end of that day the mother came in with the money in cash.

We felt it was important that the staff were not dealing with the issue so that once resolved there would be no underlying tensions.

Not nice - or fair on the child - but necessary. Good luck

Original poster

scarletlilybug · 19/10/2008 20:39

I think we need to look into changing our T&Cs - we don't say anything about suspending places.

If I'm honest, the woman in question is known to be quite "mouthy" - I don't think anyone on the committee fancies tackling her. But I get the point about not making it hard for pre-school staff, either.

OP posts:

bythepowerofgreyskull · 19/10/2008 20:41

are you members of the PLA? they have a legal helpline you could call tomorrow if you want some legal back up as it doesn't say in your T&C's - I am pretty sure you are still able to withdraw services if the bill isn't paid.

Original poster

scarletlilybug · 19/10/2008 20:42

Ah yes... lawcall. I'd forgotten about that. Thanks.

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Original poster

scarletlilybug · 19/10/2008 20:45

As for paying monthly.... she asked if she could pay weekly, and we agreed. But she's never actually paid so far and her "bill" is now up to £250. I'm not sure she has that kind of money.
Ah well, I'll pass on all your thoughts to the other committee membes. Currenly chair-less , as she's emigrated. Wonder who's going to volunteer to approach the parent?

OP posts:

bythepowerofgreyskull · 19/10/2008 20:47

Lawcall will help you with the phrases you should use when talking to her.. if you would feel better about it have 2 committee members there to back each other up.
It really has to be done though before the bill gets much bigger.

bumpybecky · 19/10/2008 20:47

are you me??? [hmmm]

we're in a very similar situation. I started a thread on legal/money a couple of weeks ago. Lots of suggestions there.

In our case it's complicated as the child is now funded. I've been told that if we withdraw the place we have to repay County the fees they've given us for the child for this term. Also we've currently got spaces, so no replacement child waiting. We're still waiting for payment...

Our situation arose as the old committee were far too nice!

bumpybecky · 19/10/2008 20:52

other thread is here...

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/legal_money_matters/621491-preschool-owed-money-help

Original poster

scarletlilybug · 19/10/2008 21:02

Wow! Amazingly similar situation, bumpybecky!.
I'll try to talk to the other committee members ASAP so that we can act immediately. Pity we don't even have a full committee at the moment!

OP posts:

bumpybecky · 19/10/2008 21:29

neither did we when I first posted!

good luck

marathonmum · 20/10/2008 19:20

I had a similar problem. The lady was driving around in an 08 reg car having 3 foreign holidays per year yet saying she couldnt afford fee. She owed £300 and her kid was wearing Victoria Beckham clothes!In the end me as the manager had to give her a date by which the fees were paid or lose her place. She knew we had a waiting list and paid up. Sad that it took that much to get her to pay. I am now in the process of writing terms and conditions that state the removal of place policy.
You do feel very liberated when you get money out of these kinds of people

Ripeberry · 22/10/2008 22:35

They like to take the piss. We had a parent that had left pre-school last term and owed about £50 but they would not give new address.
Luckily their DC was at the local school so i just waited for her to turn up and handed her the bill.
She had the cheek a few weeks ealier to get a granny (mother of committee member) to get a cheap TV for her.
She took out a wad of cash and just handed over £100 with loads left over!
Took great pleasure in it!

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