The spring fee review
Each year the home reviews its fees. Once the new rates are set, every self-funding resident and their family needs a letter with the new weekly fee, the date it applies from and the notice your contract requires. Some residents are on older rates or have individual arrangements. Some pay by standing order, some by Direct Debit, some by transfer.
The administrator exports a list, fixes it in a spreadsheet, runs a mail merge in Word, checks each letter against the contract, prints, posts and emails. Then the calls start: questions about the amount, requests for a meeting, a family who never received the letter. Two months later, several standing orders are still paying last year's fee.
Why the fee change is so manual
Fee information lives in several places: contracts, the accounts package, the care management system and spreadsheets for individual arrangements. None of them produces the letter, and none of them updates the others.
Individual arrangements are the tricky part. A resident admitted on a particular rate, a family with a top-up, a resident who moved to a different room type. Each needs the right letter, and a mistake means an awkward correction.
After the letters, the change has to reach how fees are collected. Direct Debits can be changed with proper notice. Standing orders and transfers depend on the family acting, and many do not.
What a manual review costs
| Issue | Consequence |
|---|---|
| Mail merge errors | Wrong amounts sent, then corrected |
| No record of sending | Disputes about whether notice was given |
| Questions not logged | Families asking twice, answers inconsistent |
| Standing orders not updated | Months of shortfall to chase |
| Invoices updated late | Accounts do not match what is owed |
Each shortfall is small at first. A few months of the old rate across several families becomes a debt conversation that nobody wanted.
How we run the fee change
- A fee record for each self-funding resident, drawn from your accounts and care systems, with their contract type, current rate and any individual arrangement.
- Letters generated from your approved template for each resident, showing the correct new amount and date, with a review step for the administrator before anything is sent.
- Sending by email with a record of delivery and opening where available, and printed letters with a posting record for families who prefer paper.
- A log of questions and responses per family, so whoever answers the phone sees what has already been said.
- Direct Debit amounts updated through GoCardless or your provider from the date you set, with the advance notice the scheme requires. Families paying by standing order get a reminder to change it, and a check on the first payment.
- Invoices and rates updated in Xero, Sage or QuickBooks through their APIs from the effective date.
How much fees go up and the notice terms are commercial and legal decisions for you and your adviser. We make sure what you decide is communicated and collected consistently.
How the review feels next year
The new rates go in once. Letters are generated, checked and sent in a morning rather than a week. You can see who has received their letter and who has questions. Direct Debits change on the right date, and families paying by standing order are reminded and checked.
By the first month of the new rate, the payments coming in match the fees you set, and any shortfall is visible straight away.
Does your fee review look like this?
- Fee letters are produced by mail merge each year
- Individual arrangements are checked by hand
- You are not sure every family received their notice
- Standing orders keep paying the old fee
- Invoices and rates are updated separately