Fee Collecting Policy

[Guest]

Just when you thought you had all the necessary policies I've discovered our LA expect us to have a fee collecting policy! Never had a problem collecting fees but from discussions on the forum I know this can be an issue so I'm panicking now!

 

Anyone care to share theirs?

 

Many thanks!

[Cait]

Does it have to be a separate policy or can it be worded within another?

[Guest]

I don't mind really....

 

I've just been trying to book my staff on their chosen courses from our new CPD book and the one on Policies and Procedures said 'bring with you the following policies: fee collection; nappy changing & toilet practice; confidentiality & information sharing; partnership with parents'. Some of those are combinations of what we already have in place so....

[Cait]

Fees

 

The fees are £[insert fee] payable monthly/weekly/daily/half-termly/termly in advance. Fees must still be paid if children are absent without notice for a short period of time. If your child has to be absent over a long period of time, talk to [insert Name] who is the committee chairperson or [insert Name] who is the manager.

 

For your child to keep her/his place at the setting, you must pay the fees. We are in receipt of nursery education funding for three and four year olds; where funding is not received, then fees apply.

 

 

Could you put in a bit about what you do to recover outstanding fees?

[hopeytg]

Non_Payment_of_Fees_Policy_2.docI have attached our non payment policy -

Non_Payment_of_Fees_Policy.doc

Edited March 6, 2010 by hopeytg

[Guest]

Thank you for those. Any other examples out there?

[Rea]

This is ours LJW

 

 

Well I would upload but I get a message saying i'm not allowed to upload this type of file.

So I''ll paste it

 

Fees Policy

 

It is our intention to provide affordable childcare and education to children and families from all sections of the local community. We aim to ensure that all sections of our community have access to the pre-school through open, fair and clearly communicated procedures.

 

In order to achieve this aim we operate the following fees policy:

 

1 We currently charge £5.00 per session

2 Fees are paid in advance for each half term. Individual circumstances will be considered.

3 We request that payments are either made by cheque, made payable to xxxxxxxxxxxxxx, or in cash

4 We will review fees regularly and inform parents in advance of any increases

5 We inform parents that the fees are still due when children are absent from the Pre-school

6 We advise parents that if we do not receive fees for more than 2 weeks, we reserve the right to give their child’s place to another child on the waiting list or to another child in the pre-school wishing to increase their number of sessions

7 We will pursue any arrears incurred

8 We may request from parents, advance fees until the end of term if their child is unable to attend, in order to hold their child’s place open

9 We will inform parents that the term after their child is three years old, they may be eligible for the Nursery Education Funding and we will claim this on their behalf

10 We will pass on parents details to outside agencies, e.g. photographic companies, to pursue any money owed to them

11 We reserve the right if financially needed, to request a terms fees to be paid in advance if a parent defers their child’s offered start date by that period

12 A notice period of 4 weeks is required if the child is permanently removed from the pre-school before the end of term

 

This policy was adopted at a meeting of xxxxxxxxxxxxx held on

 

 

I have to say though, I'm in the process of updating the policies so have to admit that no6 could be worded better, I remember it was initially put in after we lost acouple of hudred unds to 2 families who never paid and then left. I have never known no.11 used and I dont think 12 is ever upheld either.

Thanks for that Another review to add to the list

[SueJ]

Fees

 

XYZ Setting operates 2 x 2½ hour back to back sessions (9.00am to 11.30am and 11.30am to 2.00pm) on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays and a standalone session of 3½ hours (9.00am to 12.30pm) on Wednesdays.

 

Deposit Scheme

 

To ensure that vacancies are only allocated to families who genuinely require a place at XYZ Setting we operate a deposit scheme. The deposit is a fixed fee of £XXX per child (in the case of multiple births only one deposit is charged) which is held on account and deducted from final payments (provided all fees are up to date) when children leave the setting. The deposit is non-refundable in the event that a child’s place is not taken up at XYZ Setting without first giving four weeks written notice prior to the offered start date.

 

Children in Receipt of Early Education Funding

 

As an Ofsted registered Early Years setting, XYZ Setting is eligible to receive Early Education Funding (EEF) for eligible 3 and 4 year old children. EEF currently pays £XXX per session for a maximum of five sessions per week for thirty eight weeks of term time. EEF enables qualifying children to access their entitlement of a maximum of five sessions of 2½ hours of “core educational care” per week. It should be noted however that the 38 weeks of EEF are administered over a financial year from April to March and there will be occasions when there may be unfunded weeks of term time as XYZ setting aligns its terms to a school year from September to July.

 

Top up fees are incurred if children access additional services or childcare and education over and above their free entitlement. Parents/carers of children attending XYZ setting who qualify for EEF are responsible for all top up fees. Top up fees will be calculated over the course of each term and are required to be paid at least weekly in advance. Other payment arrangements can be agreed with the Pre-school manager; however no payment arrangements that incur arrears will be sanctioned.

 

In line with current guidelines, parents/carers of children accessing the minimum entitlement are not required or expected to take up additional services provided by the setting in order to access a free place.

 

All Children

 

Children must be collected promptly at the end of their booked sessions e.g., 11.30am, 12.30pm or 2.00pm. In the event that a child is not collected at the appropriate time a late collection fee of £5.00 will be made for each ½ hour or part ½ hour that the child attends thereafter. There are no exceptions to this charging policy.

 

Payments may be made in cash, bank transfer, cheque or via employer child care voucher schemes. Cheques should be made payable to XYZ setting (we have a pre-printed stamp for convenience if required). In the event of a cheque being returned unpaid on an account we reserve the right to refuse further cheque payments. All costs incurred by the setting as a result of cheque payments being returned are the responsibility of the client. In the event of employer child care vouchers being returned we reserve the right to refuse further voucher payments. All costs incurred by the setting as a result of voucher returns are the responsibility of the client. Please note that we are unable to return overpayments of child care vouchers; it is the client’s responsibility to administer their contributions to these schemes.

 

All parents/carers receive a payment record card detailing termly fees, EEF subsidies and top up fee amounts as applicable. Termly fee information and EEF amounts are also displayed on the setting’s notice board.

 

In all cases fees continue to be payable if a child is absent through holiday taken during term time or illness. In cases of prolonged absence, parents should consult the pre-school manager about fee payment. Each child’s attendance at the group is conditional upon continued payment of any necessary fees and/or funding.

 

In the event that a child leaves the setting, reduces the amount of sessions that the child is to attend or changes the basis of attendance, the setting requires either four weeks notice in writing or four weeks sessions fees in lieu of notice.

 

Its very wordy but I think it pretty much covers most eventualities - however we are re-considering our deposit scheme as the SFF guidance says no deposits for families only accessing their entitlement (having been previously advised by LA to charge one) and putting in a phrase with says we will keep 4 weeks EEF in lieu of notice as LA says we can.

 

Hope it helps.

[Guest]

Hi, I came on this evening looking for help for a fees policy and to my delight a post has already been up! Thanks to you all for your posts, its great to see how other setting word their policies.

 

Thanking you all xxx