Approved by governing body : October 2022
Date of next review: Autumn Term 2024
OUR LADY IMMACULATE CATHOLIC PRIMARY SCHOOL
DEBT RECOVERY POLICY
Statement of intent
Our Lady Immaculate Catholic Primary School is committed to ensuring equal opportunities for all
pupils, regardless of financial circumstances, and has established policies and procedures to ensure
that no child is discriminated against by our offering of school trips, activities and educational extras.
While this is the case, the school must have a policy in place to ensure the repayment and
recuperation of any outstanding debts incurred by the school on behalf of a pupil. The school will
take all reasonable measures to vigorously collect debts as part of its management of public funds. A
debt will be written off only after all reasonable measures (commensurate with the size and nature
of the debt) have been taken to recover it.
Each case is to be treated individually and the circumstances that have led to the outstanding debt
will be taken into account to determine the best course of action and whether it is fair and
reasonable to pursue the debt in its entirety if at all. The school is committed to adhering to legal
requirements regarding charging for school food, activities and materials, and meeting all statutory
guidance provided by the DfE.
1. Legal framework
This policy has due regard to all relevant legislation and statutory guidance.
This policy operates in conjunction with the following school policies:
• Business Continuity Policy
• Data Protection Policy
2. Roles and responsibilities
The governing board is responsible for:
• Reviewing this policy every two years.
• Regularly reviewing details of its debts and what recovery action is needed.
• Consultations if legal services are required for debt recovery.
• Adhering to the privacy rights of pupils and their guardians in all cases.
• Deciding to leave a case of debt recovery to the decision of the headteacher.
The headteacher is responsible for:
• The overall implementation of this policy and ensuring that all staff, parents and pupils are
aware of their responsibilities.
Approved by governing body : October 2022
Date of next review: Autumn Term 2024
• Recording debt reminders, and ensuring those records are maintained for a period of seven
years – this includes dates and times of letters, phone calls, emails, conversations or any
other correspondence.
• Ensuring instances of debt are judged on an individual basis, with consideration of the
nature of the debt and the circumstances of the family involved.
• Ensuring the privacy of the pupil and their family will be protected by all staff.
• Ensuring the level of outstanding debt owed to the school can be determined at short
notice.
3. Acceptable credit period
In the case of a debt, the governing board should agree upon a ‘credit period’ within which the
debtor can pay the outstanding sum before debt recovery procedures are exercised. This period of
time may vary, at the discretion of the governing board, dependent on the nature and size of the
debt.
4. Declaring outstanding debt levels
The headteacher will review the level of outstanding debts every term to determine whether current
debt levels are acceptable and whether current methods and procedures to recover debts are
effective.
Any individual cases of debt that are deemed to require intervention will then be pursued by the
procedure starting from section five of this policy.
5. Debt recovery procedures
Where there is an outstanding payment yet to be received and the acceptable credit period has
surpassed, an official invoice will be created outlining the value and reason for the debt, as well as
the debtor’s identity.
Upon creating the invoice and stipulating a date on which it must be paid by, there will be
acknowledgement from the school that the debt has been set up.
6. Verbal and written overdue payment reminders
Overdue payment reminders are outlined below:
• Initial verbal reminder – informal in-person, telephone, email or push notification
correspondence notifying the individual of debt with the date and time officially recorded.
• First formal written reminder – an official, dated letter addressed to the debtor which will
be written up two weeks after the first informal reminder and will acknowledge that it took
place.
• Second formal written reminder – this will arrive two weeks after the second reminder,
citing the details of both previous reminders and stating that concerted efforts have been
made to make the person aware that an outstanding debt is overdue.
Approved by governing body : October 2022
Date of next review: Autumn Term 2024
7. Failure to respond
If overdue payment reminders are not responded to, another letter will be sent to the debtor
advising them that the case is being considered for escalation to the school’s legal advisors and
governing board.
It is then for these parties to agree on a timeframe for a repayment or, if necessary, a payment plan
for separate instalments.
The school expects that the debt should be repaid as soon as possible, particularly after repeated
reminders; however, this can be negotiated at the discretion of the Headteacher.
If there is a case where the debtor is deemed to be refusing to pay without sufficient reason, the
school may consider involving the local authority’s legal services or a small claims court application
to resolve the issue and recuperate owed funds.
8. Negotiation of debt payment
It is expected that the debt will be repaid as soon as possible, particularly after repeated reminders;
however, this will be negotiated at the discretion of the Headteacher, particularly if the
circumstances in section nine of this policy apply.
If there is a case where the debtor is deemed to be refusing to pay without sufficient reason, the
school may consider involving LAs and the council’s legal services or a small claims court application
to resolve the issue and recuperate owed funds.
9. Exceptional circumstances and remissions
The school will ensure that parents of pupils are aware of the help the school can extend to those in
financial difficulty. Parents who may be eligible for remissions are those in receipt of any of the
following benefits:
• Income Support
• Income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance
• Income-related Employment and Support Allowance
• Support under part VI of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999
• The guaranteed element of State Pension Credit
• Child Tax Credit, provided that they are not also entitled to Working Tax Credit and have an
annual gross income of no more than £16,190
• Working Tax Credit run-on – paid for four weeks after they stop qualifying for Working Tax
Credit
• Universal Credit – if they apply on or after 1 April 2018, their household income must be less
than £7,400 a year (after tax and not including any benefits that they receive)
In a case where there is, or it is suspected that there is, an overdue debt from a family who may
qualify for remissions, details of the different types of bursary available will be sent to the debtor in
question.
Approved by governing body : October 2022
Date of next review: Autumn Term 2024
In a case where there is, or it is suspected that there is, an overdue debt from a family who may
qualify for remissions, details of the different types of bursaries available will be sent to the debtor
in question.
The headteacher is not guaranteed, but may decide, to waive or reduce the outstanding debt in
these circumstances.
10. Debt recovery costs
In addition to the remission allowances outlined in the Exceptional circumstances and remissions
section of this policy, it may be advisable to waive or partially waive debts where it is deemed that it
does not make financial sense to continue allocating time and resources to pursuing.
The governing board will review any case a debt may be waived and come to a final decision based
on the value of costs versus value of the debt.