We’ve summarised the key things you need to know around payments and billing for our home nurseries below. Please do give them a read before signing your contract with Koru Kids so you’re fully up to speed with how our service works.
Deposit
There is a £150 deposit to pay in order to secure your place with a home nursery. This deposit is taken as soon as you have signed your contract with Koru Kids.
The deposit is paid back in full with your final invoice. If you decide to terminate your contract within the first 30 days, the deposit will go directly to your Early Educator. This is to provide them with some income as they find another family to fill your spot. If your Early Educator terminates the contract, the deposit will be refunded to you back in full.
Holiday rest day charge
The holiday rest charge is a contribution that we ask families to make towards their Early Educator’s holiday days. It equals 1.66 of days’ worth of childcare per month, and is pro rata’d to the amount of hours you use per month. This enables them to take time off and have a holiday pot to draw from to cover them for this. We believe that our Early Educators should have a well deserved break which is why we ask families to contribute towards this.
Advance payments
We invoice in advance for all of our home nurseries – this means that you pay up-front for the month ahead. The invoice will be based on the hours agreed in your contract. You will be emailed an invoice around the 1st of the month, after which payment will be taken via direct debit. If you notice that the invoice looks incorrect, or have any questions, please email care@korukids.co.uk and we will look into this for you.
We take payments in advance to ensure that we have the money to pay your Early Educator by the end of the month.
Settling in
The first 30 days of your contract are called the “settling in period”. You are able to use fewer (or more) hours than what is in your contract, to accommodate a gradual settling in period for your child. You will be invoiced in advance for the hours that are in your contract, and any hours that are not used will be added as credit to your following month’s invoice.
Your Early Educator will be responsible for reporting how many hours you end up using during the settling in period. Generally, any hours that are accompanied by a parent are not charged for, and any hours that are unaccompanied are charged.
Click here to read more about settling in at one of our home nurseries.
Using funded hours
If you are using a funded hours place, please let us know as soon as possible.
We’ll ask you to pay a small Consumables Charge to cover the cost of food, toiletries, arts and crafts activities, etc. that isn’t covered by the money your Early Educator receives from the local authority. This charge varies according to the hourly rate that your local authority pays to your Early Educator. The Koru Kids team can advise you what this will be, and will be able to give you a rough estimate of costs.
Universal credit
Because we ask for payment in advance, this can make it difficult to pay for your childcare with universal credit. If you are planning on using universal credit please talk to us before signing a contract with one of our home nurseries, so that we can ensure the service is right for you.
