Demanding money - do we have to pay her ?

chumpchange

get your things together, and let her take you to court for it.

if you must pay , let a judge tell you so, not her.

Lovely B

I tell her to Sue me and IF she did I would counter sue for a poor job and endangering my child's life...I won't pay her another dime.

Itrolla

If you signed a contract with her and she had that in writing you probably have to.

Jace

Hell no. She obviously neglected your child which would be a breach of any contract- written or verbal, because you expected her to take care of your child. If I were in your shoes, and can prove what she was doing, I would go down and file in small claims court to get the remainder of your money back. Let her explain herself to a Judge!!!!

Alicat

I think you had good reason to break your contract and shouldn't pay, as to whether that's the law is something else. But if she did something she shouldn't maybe you have got a case.

Rachael H

I would write her a detailed letter explaining the reasons that you are not prepared to pay her and tell her that you have reported the matter to offsted. If it were me I most certainly would not pay her. She could argue that, according to the contract, you were obliged to give her notice, but likewise you should argue that she is in breach of her contract as she has failed to look after your daughter. I would be fuming if it was me.

LYN W

If she has not provided a service conducive with the contract then SHE is in breach of contract. Just ignore her.

Go and see a solicitor who specialises in contract law. You may have a claim against her for breach of contract.

Jude

I don't think you have to pay her a penny if she's not looked after your child properly - after all she is breaking her contract with you by not keeping your child safe. Wait and see what happens from the Ofsted investigation is what I would do.

TKD540

Is there proof that you paid her that sum or was it simply an agreement between the two of you? If the former option applies, then you must not pay her. If the latter applies then you will probably be required to pay her for the amount of time she worked, that is three days.

Jenna T

tell her, the hell with it. Tell her to go sue you for all you care since. As long as there was no commitment on your part for long term care or such, what she is doing is unjustified.

She got 1 Month's worth of pay for 3 days what can she want more, I hope you can prove you paid her one month in advance, such as receipts ect. or else your on your way for a long battle.

salvationcity

You've already the nasty little cow her notice period. You don't need to pay her a penny more.

You paid her one month in advance, so you paid her for 31 days. You used 3 of those days, leaving 28 unused days paid for. 28 days = 4 weeks. Removing your child from her care was more than enough indication the notice period had started, so those 28 days already paid for are her notice period.

Send her invoice back with that calculation on and ignore anything else she sends you.

mattinhoustontx

It's actually two seperate issues. You can sue her tail end off for endangering your child (provided that you have proof). Also you could press criminal charges for the same. The threat of criminal charges could be enough to get her to back off on her demands of payment.

charlotterobo

Do not pay this woman another penny !
Any contract you had with her would in fact be declared void if what you are saying is true ,
Tell her you will not pay any further money to her until the pending investigation by ofsted has been concluded, and that You will be seeking to recoup any monies`s that are owed to you as a result in her being over paid .
should the investigation prove that she has been neglect full in her duties as a child minder hopefully she will not be allowed to work with children again !

sweetheart24688642

you should not pAY THIS WOMAN
she isnt even taking care of your child she is basically trying to kill her/him

Lou

I wouldn't give her another penny!! We had a similar situation and had to take my daughter out of her care immediately. We let her keep the months money we had paid NO WAY would we have given her any more!!

pstzqueen

You shouldn't pay her any more money as you have already lost a month's worth.
If she sues you, you can counter sue her for neglect of duty - she has a lot more to lose because her reputation as a childminder is at stake. She probably knows this and is just trying it on to see what she can get out of you. I doubt she will persist.
Good luck finding another carer.

darchangel_3

Most likely they are demanding the money prepratory to a small claims court action (which is required in most places prior to filing a legal action)

All I can say is you better have your ducks and proof in a row.. you had a contract, YOU are going to have to prove that they did NOT fulfill the contract pretty much as your reason for dismissal

She said he said stuff likely isnt going to work either.. You need live witnesses in court (best), or at the very least sworn affidavits.. anything else is just hearsay and opinion basically, even the burden of proof in small claims is perponderance of evidence.. If thats the case its gonna come down to who does the judge believe.. and was the actions unreasonable for a reasonable or normal person...

Leaving a kid in a car when picking up a kid at school isnt all that unreasonable .. its done all the time.. depends on the time it takes to do so...
My educated guess.. is yer gonna loose this one

PS (and important) if you are gonna go to court. DO NOT RESPOND AT ALL TO THE DEMAND prior to court.. if you do That response can be used as evidence against you IN COURT.
If you want to go to court, DO NOTHING, present your evidence in court, and the court will decide (or maybe she will do nothing at all.. its up to her to file or not) Responding to the demand is a BIG MISTAKE.. either pay her or remain silent until the hearing

jefro

tell her SEE YOU IN COURT AND DON'T CALL BACK. She has no better sense than to leave your child in the car does it really surprisse you she sent you a bill wanting more money after what she's been paid already? tell her to drop dead or do what she feels she needs to do.

HappyGoLucky

If you signed a contract that states you must inform her when leaving ____ days prior to leaving, or if she must be paid for so many weeks if you cancel your contract with her, then yes you will have to pay, but I would then take her to small claims court, and tell them what she did, and that she is being investigated. She endangered your child, I would have left her too...A judge will then decide if she should reimburse you or not....hopefully they judge will see it your way and give you all but 3 days worth of money back. Talk to a lawyer first though...many have "free" consultations

Dreaming Free

Karen M

#1 -- Send her a letter, certified mail, return receipt requested, telling her in no uncertain terms that you refuse to pay because your failure to provide proper notice was a direct result of her failure to provide appropriate care and supervision as agreed.

#2 -- Go to court and sue her for the money you already paid her along with some damages. I don't know where you are, but in my state in the US, it would cost me less than $20 to file the papers. Your grounds are that a) she did not provide any care beyond the 3 days and b) the services she provided over that 3 day period did not constitute appropriate care and supervision. Did you miss work because you had to go find new child care? Sue her for lost wages. Ask for a small sum for emotional distress. As long as you don't go bonkers and get greedy, a judge is likely to be sympathetic.

ideamanbmg

Hate to say this but contact a child welfare agency about this and sic them on her. Take action before she does.
Childminder??? That some stupid "politically correct" idiom?

Barrie G

I wouldn't pay her. You may have given her a written contract but she clearly breached it by being gulty of gross misconduct.
You should however write to her informing her that she may appeal against your decision and that she may be accompanied at the appeal by anyone of her choice.
She may still have grounds to take the matter to a tribunal in which case you should inform her that you will ensure a member of the press will be present at the tribunal. The publicity would not be good for someone running a business as a childminder.
Should it proceed it is very unlikely that you would be ordered to make a payment of compensation because she had already received a months pay.

Joe N

English law:

You're not bound by the notice period.

Under her contract (whether it was written down or not) she had an obligation to carry out her job with reasonable skill and care. You found out that she wasn't, and to such an extent it was endangering your child. You realised her conduct was such that she wasn't fulfilling her obligations, and you immediately announced that the contract was over. This is known by lawyers as "accepting a repudiation of contract". She didn't keep her end of the contract "a repudiatory breach" so you ended it "accepted the repudiation". This means it came to an end there and then. She's not entitled to the notice.

Practically, where does this leave you? If she brings court proceedings then you'll receive a claim form from the court. You should fill this in saying exactly what happened and MAKE SURE YOU RETURN IT ON TIME. If the amount she's chasing is less than Â£5,000 then it'll eventually proceed to a trial in front of a judge. Describe the situation and I'm fairly confident he or she will throw the case out based on what you say.

You don't need to "counter-sue" (or counterclaim as it's known in England) but you could if you've overpaid her past the last day she had your son. Don't be afraid to visit a CAB with any court papers you receive, or even a solicitor. Choose a local friendly solicitor, but bear in mind you're unlikely to recover your legal costs from this woman.

trog69

If you contacted Childminder with your concerns and they still tried to bill you, then they obviously need some oversight. At the least, take their butts to small claims court.

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