29 July 2020
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has published advice to help nurseries and early years providers understand how consumer law applies to arrangements they make with parents during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
Whilst the CMA acknowledges that the vast majority of early years businesses are striving to treat their customers fairly under exceptional circumstances, practices that have caused concern include demands for full (or significantly high) payments when no service could be provided for extended periods.
This advice sets out the CMA's view on how consumer law applies to the agreements between nurseries and early years providers and consumers (parents) affected by the pandemic, and is intended to help businesses avoid breaching consumer law in their dealings with consumers.