Unpaid fees or late payment
 

Hi

Can anyone tell me how they handle the late payment of fees, in some cases no payment at all. What procedures do you use? What sort of measures do you take to try and recover the unpaid fees, if any :irked:

Hi

the initial envelope (bill) states payment within 2 weeks we bill halftermly. then if we have not recieved anything by 2.5 weeks or had the parent explain why we send a letter asking for it, in red. if still nothing we will speak to the parent. mostly to be honest we speak when giving them the letter aslo, aksing if ther are nay probs why not paying.

dont get many really, but maybe 1 or 2 a year.

we do have a couple that apy weekly though and usually we are able to "spot" those that will need the most help

hope this helps

Thats pretty much what we do now, but when you are running on a tight budget its can be difficult sometimes.

i agree, it is really hard

also every now and again we may put a letter out explaining in a nice way why it is important for them to pay on time

I put a clause on all my accounts to say that fees are due within 7 days of it being received, or late payments may attract a surcharge of 10%.Many parents have ignored this, so now it's 25%.......and I am now owed almost £1,000 for October...one parent stood and told me she was having trouble paying 'because she'd had an extra holiday, ( I told her I'd love to have even ONE holiday this year!!) and another told me she'd had to go to London ' to get her hair corn-braided, 'cos they do a better job of it in London'......so I told her she'd be better off paying her nursery fees first...and she just laughed!So, they are all getting a letter this week saying that, from January 1st, if they do not pay in the first week, I will not accept their child into the group until bills ARE paid, I can't afford to give places away any more!And I have to mean it, because several of them are taking the whatsit now! Oh yes, another one told me she had recommended me to her friend.............and I said, 'oh, is that because we're free??' and she didn't bat an eyelid!! I ask you, is it worth it??

A different country, I know, but at our nursery in Dubai we put a clasue in saying that late payment of fees resultsin a penalty - first week 5%, then 10%, etc and this is cumulative. We nowfind that most of our parents pay on receipt of invoice which is issued a fortnight before fees are due.

I have got one at the moment. She has only just paid arrears from april and may! June fees now in arrears too. Her husband was out of work for several months so i was trying to be flexlible but appears she taking the mick now. Sent her a reminder yesterday and next week she'll be getting a letter withdrawing her place unless paid. I like the idea of adding a surcharge, her bill is £200 so a 25% surcharge would be £50 only problem is they may get further in arrears but would certainly make up for all the letters i keep writing to her. Also like the idea of doing the letter in red

we give parents a late payment fee of £25.00 but some refuse to pay but do make sure there furture payments are on time. so we sort of just waver the £25.00 and warn them they must ensure all payments are paid on time.
if parents are having trouble paying i always tell them THEY MUST PAY something every week then this stops the arrears building up
any parent who claims childcare help and when new parents start i tell them tax credits regularly contact us to ensure we are receiving payments and we are obliged by law to imform them of any missed payments as they are committing fraud. this seems to have worked.
if any parent is reciveing help with fee's through tax credits YOU SHOULD imform them if you are having trouble getting payments from the person. they dont tell you any imformation or the outcome be they do act on it.

I have decided to try adding a fee of 15% of the total bill for invoices more than a week late and if not paid whithin 2 they lose the place. A bit harsh i know but our money is extremely tight and i have a waiting list so if people can't pay on time their place can go to someone who can! No more miss nice guy! :irked:

I decided to add £5.00 per week for late fees. After one week they are given a verbal warning, followed by a letter, which gives them a deadline if not paid then unfortunately the child will lose their place. Most of the children attending the setting receive 12.5 free child care anyway. Most to the children who pay are attending the Local LEA Nursery, and parents are working, so i'm not totally depriving them of no Nursery place. My strategy seems to be working at the moment