A selection of pre-prepared Debt templates will have been added to your ParentPay site. You can select one to use and, if necessary, adapt one of the existing templates.
This article will teach you...
How to create debt letters and e-mails.
Debt Letters and Emails
IMPORTANT
We would recommend that schools attempt to send Debt communication in email and letter form. This will involve the ParentPay system looking for a relevant verified email address and if there is no relevant email it will produce a letter.
- To produce Debt communication, you need to go to Communication > Create Letter
- You will need to choose the Debt template that best suits your requirements.
- Once you have chosen your template you need to click on the template title to enter the template setup screen.
- Click on the Title of the template in the Message/Template type column or click on the Clone icon in the Actions column
- You will see a preview of the letter on screen with the Printed letter and Email tick boxes ticked. If you only want to create letters untick the Use for emails box.
- Click Edit letter to make any changes you require or use the existing message text.
IMPORTANT
If you need to send a barcode debt letter, please note that only the printed letter channel will produce a barcode as these are not supported in email/SMS messages. You will need to ensure you have entered the merge field at the bottom of your letter template.
- Click Continue to Message options
- Choose the appropriate options for your message: what is the priority, who do you want to send it to and how?
IMPORTANT
We recommend that you leave the Verified email address only box ticked as these have been recorded in ParentPay by the parent and we have verified that they are the recipient.
- If you are sending emails remember to enter in a subject, or you can leave it with the prepopulated subject showing.
- Click Continue to Add people
- You will need to use the drop-down menu within the Add people/payment items section to select your recipients for the debt communication. Select Payment item – Account Balance BELOW value and ensure you select the relevant payment item i.e. if the debt communication is for school meals ensure you select your School Meal/Dinner Money payment item.
IMPORTANT
You only need to change the Balance Below figure if you want the system to search for debtors with a different threshold to the zero-figure stated. Most users will leave the figure as zero to ensure debt reminders are produced for anyone that owes money for the payment item.
- Click Add to add the selected recipients to the Recipient group.
- Click Continue to Preview.
The Message summary section will display an overview of the communication you are about to create. The system will have identified who it can send email communication to and will produce debt reminder letters for those payers who do not have a relevant email address. You can check the message by clicking View recipients and preview messages
- Click Send messages
- The Message summary section will confirm the number of emails that have been sent and you can click View and print PDF's to print the letters for distribution.