Eglu Cube Coop and Accessories

[iar fach goch]

Hi, don't know if anyone can help, but here goes. The nursery where I work (which is a charitable organisation) is owed £75 by parents who have now left. They were provide with a bill for November, but did not return in December, due apparently to hospital appointments, ill health etc. At the time, the mum was in contact with myself, stating that the child would be in next week etc, and that yes she still required his place. She did sign a contract when he started stating what days she required, agreeing to pay at the end of each month regardless of whether child was present or not. We started procedures to help the child who had additional needs, and he now has a place at a special unit. Mum did not let us know that he would not be returning until the second week of January, whereupon we agreed that she would pay up to and including the first week of January. This was all done via phone calls and texts as she never made it in, and was never at home when we called. Hope this makes sense to you, have tried to cut a long story short.

Needless to say, we have not seen a penny, and to a small nursery it is a lot of money. Has anyone any advice as regards to what else we can do?

[Egluntyne]

Send them a reminder letter, with a deadline to pay, followed by a letter before action of they don't stump up.

 

Pursuing it via the small claims court will cost you £60 in each case so you might not consider it worth it. The fear of getting a CCJ might stir some of them into paying.

[Cinnamon]

I agree , a letter with a deadline before court proceedings begin is the way to go.

 

Just sent one myself...we have been owed £5700.00 since June last year

[Willow]

we have been owed £5700.00 since June last year

I know I'm naive but that is immoral. Bad enough to do that to companies but for small traders (and charities in the case of the nursery)

[Cinnamon]

Tell me about it.

The whole situation is made worse as its a friend who owes us......

[Jools]

We use Money Claim Online which is not as daunting as it seems. It's amazing how quickly people pay long overdue debts when they get their notification. They have to pay all the fees too, so it costs you nothing - unless they're really hard-faced and just don't care about CCJ's. Mind you, if they don't care, it usually means they already have a collection, so it might be worth spending a few pounds on a credit check first if you can.

[The Dogmother]

Our accounts department at work operates a similar system... 30 days to pay invoices, then a '7 day letter' requesting payment within 7 days before it is referred to the claims court. They always get payment.

 

I hope that you get it sorted.

[WitchHazel]

Send them a reminder letter, with a deadline to pay, followed by a letter before action of they don't stump up.

 

Pursuing it via the small claims court will cost you £60 in each case so you might not consider it worth it. The fear of getting a CCJ might stir some of them into paying.

 

If you do end up going through the small claims court, the fee is automatically added to the amount they owe you, so you will get it back.

 

I did this many years ago to pursue an Ebay seller who did not deliver the goods, (in the days before Paypal). I found it nerve wracking at first, but I was so pleased I did it, and I did get my money back.

 

It might be worth changing your billing arrangements to that people pay in advance? If you think that some parents might struggle in the changeover month (because they have to pay last months fees and next months), you could put in transition arrangements where they pay their "arrears" weekly for four weeks, or over two months, say.

[Reikiranf]

The trouble is that even if you took them to court and they were ordered to pay, people rarely do and the court doesn't have any power to make them pay either.

 

Friends of mine lent someone they thought was a friend money to set up a business in which they were to be employed, they put £10,000 on their credit card and a few months down the line they were both sacked and so they took him to court to get their money back, the ex friend was ordered to pay them a small amount each month which would have taken nearly 5 years to get their money back, but they never received a penny of it

 

I'm not saying give up trying but to be realistic about the chances of getting the money. Perhaps a threatening letter may scare them into paying, but sadly going to court isn't always the guaranteed winner you would expect it to be!