My daughter's nursery has asked for payment of arrears which is considerably large, i.e. greater than £1000.

However, they have sent a hand written letter without a date setting out a payment plan (without consulting with me or my soon to be ex).

They further state that if the payments are not made on the dates stated, they will apply am additional charge.

I've read through similar threads and understand that the additional charges cannot be applied unless I have signed an agreement that mentions additional charges.

Strangely, they have also given me a blank agreement and registration form for the nursery requesting that I fill it in so that they can "update their records". This was given to me along with the letter regarding fees.

I am willing to pay the outstanding amount in reasonable installments based upon my total monthly outgoings, but I am planning to write to them regarding the additional charges.

I also plan to write to them asking for a copy of the original agreement and T&C's that I may have signed at the start.

WIll they be able to take me to court for this if there is no agreement signed?

Thank you for any replies!

Yes they could still issue proceedings via the court if they wished, anybody can issue proceedings where they feel money is owed and is not forthcoming

The nursery has not replied, yet.

In the meantime, I have set up a standing order to pay towards the debt.

I wouldn't be signing any agreement for "their records"

You can safely ignore any additional charges, they cant enforce them, much the same as they will struggle to enforce what you currently you owe.

Keep to written comms only and assuming you can manage the SO amount you have set up, put this in writing to them.

Keep us posted with any responses

I wouldn't be signing any agreement for "their records"

 

You can safely ignore any additional charges, they cant enforce them, much the same as they will struggle to enforce what you currently you owe.

 

Keep to written comms only and assuming you can manage the SO amount you have set up, put this in writing to them.

 

Keep us posted with any responses

Thanks for the info, Martin2006!

I have not signed anything with them. They, however, have not replied to my letter.

Just wondering if setting up the standing order would be considered admission of of the debt.

If you are happy that you owe the money then set up the dd, if you dont think you do then dont set one up.

In court, paying them a dd could well be seen as admitting you owe the debt.

Can someone advice me on how much it usually costs to go to a debt collections agency? I have been cooresponding with the manager of this nursery to get some sort of official figure for how much is owed, but she seems to be evading it, and simply sending me an amount through email.

I have asked for an invoice so that I can try and pay it off, and also for my records, but she is stalling and asking me to pay without having issued the invoice.

I'm getting the feeling that she does not plan to go to a collections agent....

For some reason, the manager is evading my request of issuing a formal invoice.

I've held off all payments now.

She has written back to me asking if I can make the payment soon.

I need advice on what to do next.

I can't figure out why she cannot issue a formal invoice, and I am ready to pay up!

Can anyone suggest anything?

I've stopped paying monthly towards this.

If they don't issue an invoice, how are you meant to know how much to pay?

Put this to the nursery and if they don't reply they are asking for trouble.

In the mean time, keep the money safe as if they come back with the invoice you'd better off paying it, assuming that you used the charged services.

there is a thing called mitigation in law and that means that the nursery has to send you a proper bill and allow you time to pay it (say a week at least) before they can start any collection activity.

They cant add any charges or fees to this amount and the bill will have to give some indicatrion of what it is for

so if they have added late payment fees this should be itemised

( and refunded unless they have a proper credit agreement with you)

so be insistent. demand a statement of account for the last 3 years or however long this has been subject of dispute or arrears.

If they dont supply then they will lose a court claim as they cant prove the debt.

How much have you paid in total by way of monthly payments and aslo why leave it 2 years befoe coming back to this.

You've done well to get to £1000 without being harassed for payment. My nursery chased me over £48 the other day. You must have had an agreement where costs were stated up front? Yes, you need an invoice, but the costs will still be payable. Withholding payment won't make it go away.

Is your child no longer at the nursery? I'm guessing not as it's quite high. They would most likely take you to court as long as their accounting is up to scratch and they can demonstrate the validity of the costs incurred. Again, to my mind lack of an invoice is one thing, but you must have had an agreed upon monthly amount at the start of the term. So, you should be able to work out how much you owe, and then just pay it off in amounts you can afford.

there is a thing called mitigation in law and that means that the nursery has to send you a proper bill and allow you time to pay it (say a week at least) before they can start any collection activity.

 

They cant add any charges or fees to this amount and the bill will have to give some indicatrion of what it is for

so if they have added late payment fees this should be itemised

( and refunded unless they have a proper credit agreement with you)

 

so be insistent. demand a statement of account for the last 3 years or however long this has been subject of dispute or arrears.

If they dont supply then they will lose a court claim as they cant prove the debt.

 

How much have you paid in total by way of monthly payments and aslo why leave it 2 years befoe coming back to this.

There was no paperwork signed for this. And I suspect that's why they are reluctant to issue an invoice. I have given the manager ample opportunity and time to issue an invoice, and reassured her that I can look into payment/settlement when she does.

There was no set monthly payment agreed upon. She has never issued an invoice, come to think of it, even while my child was attending the nursery.

I had been paying into this monthly for a long time in the vain hope that it will be sorted. However, over the last several months I have come to realise that the system works in a way to favour the business and not the consumer. Also, ethical considerations aside, if she cannot issue an invoice, there must be something wrong with her paperwork (or no paperwork at all!). Rant: I (and others) have been fleeced off my hard earned money too many times by the laws of this country, so I figured it's time to use the same laws to my benefit, when I get a chance.

I've got the money set aside should she suddenly spring into action with an invoice, but I'm not letting her have it till she does some work as manager of the business.

Question: Since there was no credit agreemement (or any agreement at all!), would this go down the small claims path?

I left it 2 years because I was busy attending to other debts which have actual paperwork! This was not a priority.

You've done well to get to £1000 without being harassed for payment. My nursery chased me over £48 the other day. You must have had an agreement where costs were stated up front? Yes, you need an invoice, but the costs will still be payable. Withholding payment won't make it go away.

 

Is your child no longer at the nursery? I'm guessing not as it's quite high. They would most likely take you to court as long as their accounting is up to scratch and they can demonstrate the validity of the costs incurred. Again, to my mind lack of an invoice is one thing, but you must have had an agreed upon monthly amount at the start of the term. So, you should be able to work out how much you owe, and then just pay it off in amounts you can afford.

The actual amount they are asking for, if you really would like to know, is £3300.

the nursery would need to use the small claims procedure to recover the debt but that will need them to actually show how much money is owed and why before they even issue a claim. asking for a full statement of accout is not unreasonable so that should show how the debt accrued, the payments you made towards it and the balance now due.

you havnt saidf how much the debt originally was and how much you have paid in the meanwhile so we cant tell if they can even do simple arithmetic

The agreement would have come into force when you sent your child to the nursery, and there would have been an agreed upon fee at that point. I wouldn't have said they need an "agreement" as you mention above because it's not a credit card, and they have (I assume unless told otherwise) provided a service which you benefited from. I'm not an expert but it seems easy to work out for yourself how much you owe based on what was agreed.