Cm - reminding parent to pay

[Becp]

Anyone else have to do this? I have to do this nearly every week. Our contract is payment in advance every Monday by bank transfer, I usually leave it till weds then remind them but it drives me mad I realise it's partly my fault for letting it go on for so long & not ever implementing my late fee policy but once you've let it go once I suppose parents think its okay.

Yes - once they've got away with it once they think they can do it forever. Give them one warning if they do it this week (and don't wait till Wednesday, do it tomorrow). You can just say 'Dear So-and-So, please can I remind you of the late-payment clause in our contract. I have up to now waived the late-payment charge but will be implementing it from next Monday 18th. The charge is £5 per day. Thank you.'

If I was in your shoes I'd switch to monthly payment, too.

I would do a general type reminder in a news letter stating that you have been reviewing your policies and have decided that in future you will be enforcing a late payment charge on those parents who are continuously late with payment of fees of £5 per day or whatever is written into your contract, I would state that this will be brought into effect from the beginning of March, therefore giving them enough warning to get sorted.
I would suggest that you look at a few other policies as well & highlight areas in those which might not necessarily look as though you are picking on this one family, e.g. sickness policy (exclusion for 48 hours after D&V), late drop off & collection, emergency contacts (making sure they are all up to date, our local primary school had out of date contacts for some parents recently & were unable to contact them during an emergency evacuation & closure due to a gas leak meaning their children were standing outside in the cold for ages until they were collected)
Make the tone chatty but with enough oomph to make a point & then carry out the fee charges regularly if they continue to make late payments, they will soon learn!

And remember that some parents will be oblivious to the fact that you have put the late fees in the contract and have warned them, so once you have said you will enforce the fees, make sure you do.

Yes I'll definitely not make the mistake of ignoring it if I ever start minding again, I finish in 2 wks so it's not worth doing now. It just adds to my feelings of child minders not being taken seriously