ofsted early years register payments

[watgem]

Hi everyone, I have been trying to pay Ofsted my annual registration fee for the past month, but have recieved no invoice as yet[payment due Sat 16th Feb] I have rung several times a week to say that I haven't recieved an invoice and had various excuses given eg "its not on the system yet" and "we can't charge you until its overdue" my friend was told last week that it was because Ofsted has"run out of paper"!!!!!!!!!!!![strange 'cos I got 2 very large questionnaires from them this morning!]I informed them that I was concerned that my insurance would be invalidated and was told by Ofsted that this wasn@t the case and that loads of people never pay their fees on time, some are months overdue apparently and not to worry, but I am because in my experience Ofsted are very keen to have their fees payed promptly and preferably in advance of the due date. I wondered if this was happening in other areas to other childminders or just us?