Confirming contracts letter

[Babycat]

Does this letter sound ok? Have I missed anything out? Also thinking of making a sign and return as recieved at the bottom?


Dear ________________,

You have made an appointment on _______________ at___________ to sign a childcare contract for your child(ren) _______________________________.

At this meeting we will be completing forms for permissions, contact details, doctor’s details, my fees etc. With this you will receive a parents pack and other signage that you must complete and return for safety of your child. We will also cover policies in detail and recap on others. You will be supplied a copy of said policies and will also receive a copy of your contract when all actions are complete.

You are required to bring a total of £10 administration fee as a one off to cover the costs of time spent and resources while completing contracts. This is non- refundable.

You may also choose to bring your one month’s deposit at this stage as this will ensure that your child(ren)’s space is secure. This is refundable within the settling in period of up to a maximum 3 weeks as long as you attend all the settling sessions arranged. After this it will be non-refundable and is secured against the last four weeks care in the contract.
Please remember that childcare costs must be paid in advance and we will discuss this in more detail at the meeting as there are ways that you may gain help with fees.

Please sign and return the attached slip to confirm receipt and understanding of the above information.

Looking forward to seeing you,

Kind regards,

[Mamma4Ya]

Is it normal for CM's to charge for administration fees for signing contracts? I wouldnt be giving them an option to bring the deposit I personally would state it is required at time of signing contracts.

[miffy]

It's very formal - tbh getting a letter like that would put me off.

I don't think many parents would expect to pay a registration fee and giving a choice of whether to pay a deposit or not could be a big mistake.

Miffy xx

[Cammie Doodle]

Im with Miffy on this one, I know we are professionals like Nurseries, but I think Parents like the more Personal /Individual Approach they get from a home environment / setting and this letter seems a bit Cold/ impersonal :blush: Sorry don't mean to offend

[candlequeen]

I don't know about a letter, as I usually just make these pre-contract arrangements by phone. Would you have time to send out a letter and receive a reply slip before you meet to sign the contracts?

I agree that I just tell people to bring the deposit when signing contracts to secure the space - you don't want to waste time doing contracts if people aren't ready to pay up. In my experience this means people always either back out just before contracts or they go ahead with the arrangement. On the same note, I never do any personalised paperwork until they actually turn up to sign the contract.

In my honest opinion, I can see why you would want to charge an admin fee, but I feel that from a parent's point of view it's a bit unfair, as it is not them who demand all this paperwork be completed. I think as a childminder you have to accept that you don't get paid for all the paperwork time you spend, and whilst we all get frustrated by this, I don't think passing this on to the parents is doing any favours to the image of childminders.
Personally, I find I am quite apologetic to parents about the amount of paperwork we need to complete and the time this takes, but maybe I'm being too nice!

[Babycat]

Its more about the cost of the pack they are recieving- folder, keyrings, printed paper to the hills! but then again you could claim it all as an expense I guess.

The letter I felt could go on an email or the likes and the reply signing brought to meeting- Just thought it woukd show not only financial procedure but the way you work regarding policies etc and prepare your parent to bring all info needed.

As mentioned before I love paperwork lol Just need you ladies to keep me right haha

[Mamma4Ya]

The fact that you will be getting regular paid work from the contract should rule out having to charge the family for administration, this is just one of the pros and cons of the initial setting up. I certainly wouldn't make the letter long winded.

The fact that they are coming to sign contracts means that you should have discussed the payment policy in advance and they were happy with it.

Just a simply thank you for their interest in taking up your service and confirm a date for them to attend to sign contracts with a reminder to bring the deposit with them.

Dear Mr/Mrs X

I would like to thank you once again for your interest in the Child Minding Service I offer. I would like to confirm our appointment for x date at x time in which I will require approx an hour of your time to run through and complete the necessary paperwork,

I would also like to remind you that your deposit of £x is due at the time of signing the contract. If for any reason you are unable to make this appointment can you please contact me in order to re-arrange.

Yours faithfully

xxxx

Hope this helps :)

[Babycat]

thats nice babysigntalk simple and to point

think maybe I should minimise my work! Im going through all the checks etc I want for a week and making it into one page too.

Now i have it all time to simplify..!