Cancellation credits.
If you cancel your child’s session in good time, you will receive cancellation credits for those hours. You can use the cancellation credits to request additional childcare on a day other than a contracted day. We can allocate this childcare if there is space and the request aligns with our schedule. Cancelling in good time means you’re giving other parents the chance to request an extra day. And the reverse is true for you too. It is our way of offering a degree of flexibility as an added feature in our range of services.
The rules below are in place so we can offer flexibility as well as ensure that our branches remain manageable, in compliance with all applicable laws and regulations.
Accruing cancellation credits
- You will accrue cancellation credits if you cancel your child’s place via the Parent Portal at least 4 weeks before the childcare session on your contracted day. You can cancel up to 6 months in advance.
- You can withdraw the cancellation up to 4 weeks before the session, so you have some flexibility in this regard too. You will receive the cancellation credits 4 weeks before the cancelled childcare session. After this, the cancellation is final and the place is made available to other parents. As a result, you no longer have the right to childcare on this day.
- The number of credits you receive is equal to the number of hours you cancelled for your child. In the case of daycare and a non-school day for out-of-school care, this is 11 hours per day, and for regular out-of-school care, the hours are counted from when school ends to when the branch closes.
- You can accrue 33 cancellation credits for daycare and 22 credits for out-of-school care. Once cancellation credits are used, there is room to accrue new credits up to this limit. The number of accrued cancellation credits is displayed in the Parent Portal.
Validity of cancellation credits
- Cancellation credits are valid for 365 days after the cancelled day.
- Cancellation credits are linked to the child and the contract.
Requesting an extra day using cancellation credits
- You can submit a request for an additional day in the Parent Portal, from 8 weeks in advance up to the day in question.
- As long as the request is still pending, you can withdraw it in the Parent Portal if you no longer need extra childcare. This helps you to stay flexible. As soon as the request has been approved, it can no longer be undone.
- Your request will be processed up to 4 weeks before the requested day. We aim to respond to your request at least 1 week before the requested day.
- Cancellation credits are deducted for the full number of hours of the requested day. In the case of daycare and a non-school day for out-of-school care, this is 11 hours, and for regular out-of-school care it depends on the time school finishes. Cancellation hours can also be used on non-school days.
- The extra day is ‘paid for’ with your accrued cancellation credits. If the accrued cancellation credits are not sufficient to cover the extra day, you will settle partly using cancellation credits and partly by way of an invoice. If you have no cancellation credits, you will receive an invoice for the additional day.
Service
Cancellation credits are a service for our daycare and out-of-school care, but we cannot guarantee that you will actually be able to use it. No rights may be derived from this service. We reserve the right to change the rules regarding cancellation credits at any time.
Pilot scheme
A pilot scheme is currently underway for the cancellation credits. This pilot scheme gives us the opportunity to make adjustments where necessary, so that we can create as much flexibility as possible that works both for you as a parent and for us as an organisation. The pilot scheme is currently in place at all our branches offering daycare and out-of-school care.
I already let you know my child would not be attending before the cancellation credits were introduced. Will I still get cancellation credits?
You can undo your child(s) absence and then submit it again. You will receive cancellation credits if you cancel your child’s place via the Parent Portal at least 4 weeks before the childcare session on your contracted day. You will receive the cancellation credits 4 weeks in advance (so for cancellations from 29 June). After this, you can request extra childcare using cancellation credits.
If you go on holiday in the last weeks of the summer holidays in 2026, you will receive the cancellation credits 4 weeks in advance, so extra care in the first week of the summer holidays cannot yet be requested with these cancellation credits. With the accrued cancellation credits you can request extra care for other days and holidays because these are valid for 365 days.
Can I cancel my child’s session verbally or via e-mail?
You will accrue cancellation credits if you cancel your child’s place via the Parent Portal at least 4 weeks before the childcare session on your contracted day. As such, this does not apply to cancellations made verbally, by e-mail or by telephone.
Why do I receive cancellation credits for a cancellation at least 4 weeks in advance?
We believe it is important to offer parents some flexibility. In addition, we would like to encourage timely cancellations. If we receive the cancellation 4 weeks in advance, we have room to adjust our staff schedule accordingly (the staff schedule has to be shared with our team 3 weeks in advance) and fit in requests for extra childcare. It helps us to schedule our staff more effectively at the different branches and groups. That is why this is a win-win situation for parents as well as for us as an organisation. In the event of last-minute cancellations, such as due to illness, we cannot make arrangements in advance.
Why do I only receive the cancellation credits 4 weeks before my child will not attend the childcare session?
You can withdraw the cancellation up to 4 weeks before the session, so you have some flexibility in this regard. The cancellation is final from 4 weeks in advance, and that is when you’ll receive the cancellation credits.
Why is there a limit to the number of hours that can be accrued?
You can accrue 33 cancellation credits for daycare and 22 credits for out-of-school care. Once cancellation credits are used, there is room to accrue new credits up to this limit. The number of accrued cancellation credits is displayed in the Parent Portal.
The cancellation credits are in place to offer the flexibility of having an additional day of childcare here or there. In the past, people could save many credits and would save up their credits to cover entire holidays. This meant some parents would really benefit from this service, whilst others had little opportunity to make use of the hours. Next to that, it caused dissatisfaction when the large number of credits could not be used in practice.
I use half-day childcare sessions, so how many cancellation credits will I receive and how much will extra childcare cost?
In case of half days, you will receive 5.5 hours for a cancellation. Additional childcare can be requested in half days and full days.
Will I also receive cancellation credits on public holidays and early closures such as on 5, 24 and 31 December?
No, you will not receive cancellation credits on those days. We believe it is important to offer parents some flexibility. That is why we have introduced a pilot scheme for cancellation credits where you receive these credits when you cancel your child(ren)’s childcare session in good time. You will not receive any cancellation credits for public holidays, as our regular costs for accommodation and staff, for example, are ongoing. You will be compensated for the early closure hours on 5, 24 and 31 December.
Will I also receive cancellation credits for pre-school care?
Yes, cancellation credits can be accrued from daycare, pre-school care and out-of-school care.
Why is playgroup not included in the cancellation credits?
Playgroup is offered in half-day sessions and is not available for some weeks of the year. What’s more, group composition is very important in playgroup, partly because we offer a lot of VE (voorschoolse educatie, preschool education) for toddlers with developmental needs. This means it is difficult or even impossible to use cancellation credits for a different day.
As a parent with a flexible product, these cancellation credits are useless to me?
Unfortunately, if you are a parent with a flexible contract (obsolete service) you cannot benefit from these cancellation credits. As an organisation, we no longer offer flexible contracts - which, as the name suggests, offer a level of flexibility. Only a small number of customers still use this service. This small group has the flexibility through the contract instead of through the cancellation hours.
Will anything happen to my childcare allowance when I cancel a session for my child?
No, you will always receive the childcare allowance for the hours of the contracted days (provided you are entitled to it), even if you notify us that your child will be absent. There is no need to notify the Tax Administration Benefits Department of any changes.
Can I have a refund for the days my child cannot attend?
We never reimburse cancelled hours. After all, our regular costs are ongoing. Your child is always welcome on the contracted days. You will always receive the childcare allowance for the hours of the contracted days (provided you are entitled to it), even if you notify us that your child will be absent.
How long are cancellation credits valid?
Cancellation credits are valid for 365 days after the cancelled day or until the contract expires. There is no financial compensation for cancellation credits.
Can I carry over my cancellation credits until after the summer holidays, when my child starts primary school and will attend out-of-school care instead of daycare at the same branch?
Cancellation credits are linked to the child and the contract and are not transferable. When your child moves to out-of-school care, the cancellation credits accrued in daycare are no longer valid/usable for out-of-school care.
I cancelled my child’s session months in advance and requested an extra day 8 weeks in advance. Why is my request not approved until 4 weeks in advance?
We look at additional requests when we draw up our staff schedule, so this is when we know whether there is space in the group for more children.
We are bound by very strict rules, whereby the number of staff members needed in a group depends on the ages of the children in the group. As such, a cancellation or additional request for just one child can have a big impact.
We look at requests in order of receipt.
Can you not let me know sooner whether my request for a different day has been approved?
We aim to process the request at least one week before the requested day and will do this sooner wherever possible. We will respond up to 4 weeks before the requested day. This is when the schedules are drawn up in compliance with the applicable rules and regulations. The number of staff members needed in a group depends on the ages of the children in the group.
We look at requests in order of receipt.
How will I know whether my request has been approved or denied?
You will receive a notification (push notification) in the Parent Portal. Please remember to turn on push notifications in your account settings.
I need additional childcare, but my child’s group is at full capacity. Can I use cancellation credits in a different group?
The basic principle is that cancellation hours are only used if there is availability in the child’s own group and if the group’s composition allows for this. Any request for additional childcare will always be considered carefully. This means that even if there is space in the group, a request for additional childcare might be denied if the group’s composition does not allow for it.
If there is no space in the child’s own group but the request is suitable for both the child and a different group’s composition at the branch, the request may be approved.
I want to request an extra day but cannot use cancellation credits because the group is at full capacity.
Some branches are at full capacity and have waiting lists. At these branches, there is less opportunity to use cancellation credits. But even at branches that are at full capacity there are parents who cancel their child’s care due to holidays or days out, creating possibilities. The cancellation credits are in place to offer the flexibility of having an additional day of childcare here or there. The rules have been put in place with the intention of allowing as many parents as possible to benefit from some degree of flexibility. We understand it is inconvenient when cancellation credits cannot be used.
As we operate according to set rules, we are unable to consider any complaints or requests for exceptions related to cancellation credits.