Happymum Posted June 3, 2017 Share Posted June 3, 2017 I think that some (long) time ago somebody on the forum mentioned some kind of company/organisation which helps spread out payments. If I haven't imagined it it allowed you to pay smaller amount monthly (weekly?) rather then 1 big payment a term. Hope somebody can help. I thought I'll check here before I ask at our school but maybe each school has a company they work with and I should check with them? As proud and happy as I am for both my children I'm dreading September... 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billyelliott Posted June 3, 2017 Share Posted June 3, 2017 I know a mum who was doing this - I'll message her and check the company's name Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meadowblythe Posted June 3, 2017 Share Posted June 3, 2017 Definitely worth a call to the school - I know both Hammond and Elmhurst have operated this scheme in the past, monthly payment over 10 months if memory serves .. Know DD's current school don't - were very sniffy when I asked about it. As she had a scholarship why would I want help spreading the fees? Some people have no idea ... 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billyelliott Posted June 3, 2017 Share Posted June 3, 2017 I found the brochure that was sent to us by Elmhurst the company is SFP Website is WWW.sfpsschoolfees.co.uk - there is an online calculator to calculate your monthly repayments 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Picturesinthefirelight Posted June 3, 2017 Share Posted June 3, 2017 It is also SFP that Hammond use. The fees go out by monthly direct debit. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dancefanatic Posted June 3, 2017 Share Posted June 3, 2017 Happy mum, we use this method and it is so much easier knowing our monthly expenditure. Fees are worked out monthly with school sending a copy of the invoice to the plan people each term. We get a copy for info really. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billyelliott Posted June 3, 2017 Share Posted June 3, 2017 Apparently you apply to them directly, but let the school know what you have done . You can also add any extras that occur and have them spread across the term as well Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
balletmum20 Posted June 3, 2017 Share Posted June 3, 2017 Yes I use the school fee plan also, it's really good! https://www.schoolfeeplan.com/FooterSimpleLogon/About 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happymum Posted June 3, 2017 Author Share Posted June 3, 2017 Thank you all very much!! I'll have a look at the website now. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harwel Posted June 3, 2017 Share Posted June 3, 2017 Isn't there an added cost doing it this way? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Picturesinthefirelight Posted June 3, 2017 Share Posted June 3, 2017 It's finance so yes there is an interest charge. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2dancersmum Posted June 4, 2017 Share Posted June 4, 2017 To be honest, we looked into this and after seeing the interest charge decided to do our own version. We opened a specific bank account for vocational school and worked out how much we had to pay over the year. We then paid into this account weekly/monthly . We started May before DD actually started at vocational school so there was already money in the account by September. It meant it was far easier to budget - we still paid the school termly but with money going out of our accounts by DD monthly we never had any lump sums to find and it made finances easier. 12 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happymum Posted June 4, 2017 Author Share Posted June 4, 2017 2 hours ago, 2dancersmum said: To be honest, we looked into this and after seeing the interest charge decided to do our own version. We opened a specific bank account for vocational school and worked out how much we had to pay over the year. We then paid into this account weekly/monthly . We started May before DD actually started at vocational school so there was already money in the account by September. It meant it was far easier to budget - we still paid the school termly but with money going out of our accounts by DD monthly we never had any lump sums to find and it made finances easier. Yes, I started to think about a similar way of "saving" for school fees yesterday. I looked up how much we will need to pay for SFP and thought how many pairs of pointe shoes we could buy for this amount of money and decided against. But it does look nice and easy, very convenient and everybody's case is different so I can see how it might work very well for some. I'll need to come up with someting else like 2dancersmum did. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harwel Posted June 4, 2017 Share Posted June 4, 2017 Absolutely, 2dancersmum. That's the way we do it. No way do I want to be paying extra, expensive enough as it is. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sherbert Posted June 4, 2017 Share Posted June 4, 2017 I didn't know Elmhurst and Hammond had gone this third party route. RBS simply allow fees to be paid monthly with no charge. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happymum Posted June 5, 2017 Author Share Posted June 5, 2017 Actually I've never asked the school, maybe it's possible to simply pay monthly, would be great! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dancefanatic Posted June 5, 2017 Share Posted June 5, 2017 I did ask the school last October and was told No, the only way was to use School feed plan. And not having much notice of the place, we couldn't start saving in advance either. We chose to swallow the interest for the convenience really. Good luck and hope you get a different response now the school had a new finance director!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nicola H Posted June 5, 2017 Share Posted June 5, 2017 32 minutes ago, dancefanatic said: I did ask the school last October and was told No, the only way was to use School feed plan. And not having much notice of the place, we couldn't start saving in advance either. We chose to swallow the interest for the convenience really. Good luck and hope you get a different response now the school had a new finance director!! I wonder if this reflects the backgrounds of the admin staff at those schools , if they have come from 'nilla private schools where paying fees termly is the norm ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hfbrew Posted June 5, 2017 Share Posted June 5, 2017 I frequently had to pay ds fees in half termly chunks and found that as long as I communicated openly when there were problems (for example ill health) it was fine. I was also careful to pay up on the dates that I said I would! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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