4.7 Late Payment

4.7 Late Payment Policy

Policy statement

At Cullompton Pre-school, we are committed to equal opportunities for everyone, ensuring it is accessible to all families in the community, whilst providing high quality care and education.  We aim to keep fees as competitive as possible, however, in order to maintain sustainability, quality of care and to enable us to recruit and retain staff with relevant qualifications and experience; we carry out a review of our charges on an annual basis.  Should it be deemed necessary to increase fees, parents/guardians will be given a minimum of one month’s notice.  We recognise that families have differing needs and we endeavour to meet the individual needs of all families.

Procedure

Fees are payable termly in advance.

Parents/carers are notified of the required fees by means of an invoice.

We ask that fees are paid directly into the pre-school account and account details are provided on the invoice.

Parents are given an option to pay the amount in full, in two payments (one at the beginning of each half term) or weekly payments to be paid every Monday, or a written agreement of payments being made in advance ie four weekly. Information about when payments are due are detailed in the invoice letter.

Parents choosing to pay their child’s fees on a weekly basis should ensure that the correct payment is made on the correct day each week. If weekly payments are not received parents will be reminded on two separate occasions.  After two reminders the option to pay fees weekly will be withdrawn.

Fees need to be settled on the agreed date otherwise a late payment charge of £5.00 will be incurred.

Holidays taken during term time will still be charged at the usual rate.

If a child is only entitled to 15 funded hours, an invoice will be raised for any hours in access of this ie a child with 15 funded hours attending pre-school for 18 hours weekly, will be charged for 3 hours weekly.

Parents are free to use their funding at up to two registered settings.

If a child starts at Cullompton Pre-School mid-term, the fees will be calculated and adjusted accordingly.

Receipts are only issued if requested.

We request four weeks’ notice before withdrawing your child. If notice is not given, Cullompton Pre-School reserve the right to charge for this notice period.

Fees will still be incurred if the setting has to unexpectedly close (for a period of up to three working days).

Cullompton Pre-School is registered to receive childcare vouchers.

Collections and Debt Recovery

If a parent/carer has difficulty paying by the due date, they must advise Mandy Goff (the Administration Manager) in the first instance.

Our four stage late payment collection is as follows:-

• A text is sent to parents/carers detailing late payment and asking for payment to be made by a specified date.
• A telephone call is made to parents/carers to discuss payment management.
• A letter is sent to parents/carers confirming the above discussion and payment arrangements agreed.
• If payment is still not received as per the agreement letter, parents/carers will be informed of excess hours being retracted with immediate effect, the committee will be informed and debt recovery will commence.

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This policy has an tri-annual review period and, as such, will be reviewed and signed off at a management committee meeting of Cullompton Pre-School each year, as shown below.