Article blogged from Laura Clark, Daily Mail, 16th February 2010
Private schools are increasingly sneaking extra charges on to parents' bills as they battle to stay afloat during the recession, it has emerged.
Parents have reported receiving bills with a string of extra charges automatically added - including four different types of insurance.
The charges are usually accompanied by small print explaining that parents must actively deduct the extras or the school will assume they accept them.
'Fine-toothed comb': Experts have advised parents to go through their bill to stop items being charged automatically
Schools earn commission on insurance policies sold - such as medical or personal effects insurance - but many parents may not actually want or need the cover.
The tactic - dubbed 'inertia selling' by critics - is among a range being deployed by independent schools as they fight to make ends meet, according to experts.
Schools are increasingly hiring lawyers to chase unpaid fees or, as a last resort, expelling children if their parents fail to pay up, it emerged.
Growing numbers are allowing their buildings and grounds to be used for weddings or summer schools, while others are aggressively marketing themselves abroad to tap into a lucrative international market.
According to the Good Schools Guide, parents must be alert to the possibility of hidden extras being added to their bills.
Researchers for the guide have calculated that extras such as uniform, lunches, sports tours, music tuition, books, insurance and membership of Old Boys' or Old Girls' clubs can add five to 15 per cent to the quoted fees.
Added extras: Some private schools are charging parents for books
Some costs - such as lunches - were traditionally covered by the main fee but schools are now putting them on bills as extra charges.
Schools are also increasingly asking parents to pay up to £1,000 for a school-specific laptop, it emerged.
Many of these 'extras' are optional but parents are subtly encouraged to pay, said the guide's regional editor Sue Fieldman.
'Parents should pick through their bills 'with a fine-toothed comb', she warned.
'We have noticed an increasing tendency to pop in items with a footnote saying that "unless you notify the school and deduct the amounts mentioned, it will automatically be charged to you", in other words inertia selling.
'Examples are the Old Boys/Girls Society and your "contribution" to charities. Do not be shy about deducting these sums from your cheque,' she said.
'Insurance needs particular care. Often policies are taken out automatically unless you say otherwise.'
Many schools, particularly boarding schools, offer parents at least four different types of insurance.
These include policies for medical treatment if the pupil has an accident or falls ill at school, dental treatment and the loss of pupils' personal effects.
Some also try to sell school fees insurance that returns a proportion of fees paid if a child falls ill and misses education.
But parents may be able to find the same cover cheaper elsewhere, use their own existing insurance, such as home contents, or do without it altogether, said Mrs Fieldman.
'We know of sickness policies on offer, for example, that only pay up once the child has been ill for at least eight days, but don’t pay up for illnesses lasting longer than a term,' she said.
'Of course schools are looking after the interests of the child but they earn commission on all these policies. The more they can sell the more they earn.
'All schools are looking to maximise their income. If they feel it can be maximised by these sorts of policies, they will try and sell them.
'But 95 per cent of parents pay them without giving them a second thought.'
Meanwhile schools often charge parents for books over and above basic textbooks even though they can be bought second-hand or borrowed from libraries.
Mrs Fieldman said: '"Extras" can add between five to 15 per cent to the bill. Parents need to take great care in comparing fees between schools. Some schools quote an all-in fee, while others seem cheaper but have a huge number of unavoidable extra costs.
'The Good Schools Guide advises all parents to always check carefully what is included in the basic school fees and get a full breakdown of the extras.'
There is also evidence that schools are becoming more proactive at chasing up unpaid fees. There are fears that the worst effects of the recession are yet to come, since schools took several years to recover from the last downturn in the early 1990s.
Lawyers Veale Wasbrough, which help schools with fee recovery, have observed a sharp rise in the number of active claims brought by schools against parents.
The 'unprecedented' rise was a direct result of the financial climate, it said.
Schools were advised at a recent seminar hosted by law firm Wilsons to consider a range of measures including making staff part-time, merging with other schools and making the most of their buildings to use as wedding venues.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1251245/Private-schools-charging-parents-string-hidden-charges-battle-recession.html#ixzz0fib8ZsTh
