Fees & Refund Policy
We believe our fees offer good value for money and reflect the quality we deliver!
How We Work
Smartaupairs does not charge a search activation fee.
The placement fee only becomes due the moment you and your chosen candidate have completed the Smartaupairs agreement. The agreement form acts as a written confirmation of your offer & the candidate acceptance.
Should the candidate be unable to obtain a visa/flights/unable to travel, your fee will be returned in full.
A minimum charge of 25% of the applicable placement fee applies if you cancel the placement after the agreement is signed and the candidate has started visa/travel booking process.
The placement fees quoted below reflect the maximum availability of the candidate as confirmed on their profile upon introduction.
Extension fees apply for placements which exceed originally agreed placement duration.
Very Important
We must highlight that a chosen candidate is only reserved for a host family provided that the below timelines are met, including:
- Timely receipt of the invitation form (2 days from receipt of the form)
- Timely receipt of your placement fee (3 working days from receipt) - always prior to candidate arrival.
We reserve the right to re-circulate the applicant profile if the above timelines are not met.
Placement Fees
Updated 1 August 2024. Further updated 26 September 24.
The majority of our candidates are native English speakers looking for long term placements (1 year) - Many are happy to extend.
We regularly work with nursery & primary teachers and candidates who have prior au pairing experience.
Our placement fees are determined by the candidate experience level & the placement duration.
Traditional - Candidates with Babysitting Experience:
Candidate Pay - In line with national minimum wage, typically from £180-270/week
Experience+ - Qualified and/or Experienced Junior Nanny & Nanny Caliber Candidates:
Candidate Pay - In line with national minimum wage, typically from £230-380/week, more for full time roles.
Applicable fees will also be confirmed on each individual candidate profile upon introduction.
To download our full breakdown of fees & costs - simply download our fee info pack below.
Found Your Own Au Pair? Looking for Support?
We regularly receive enquiries whereby hosts/au pairs have pre-matched, but would like to complete formal checks through Smartaupairs.
We can offer this service at a reduced cost.
The fee is due upon commencement of work/instruction - if you or the au pair choose to not to proceed after the work has commenced, the full fee will be due.
Placement Extensions
Many au pairs extend their agreed placement duration with their host family.
It is your responsibility as a host family to inform our agency of such extension, in which case the difference in the placement fee categories will become due.
Example: You have confirmed an au pair placement for a period of 6 months, and the au pair extends their stay by a further 6 months. The difference in the two fee categories would be due. Reduced surcharges apply for placements extended to be longer than 12 months.
The extensions yield a 75% reduction to a fee which would be typically applicable for the placement duration. E.g. if you extend the placement by 6 months, you would pay 25% of a 6 month placement fee.
Guarantee & Refund Policy
We recognise that sometimes things do not go to plan, even with the best planning and support.
All long term placements (6 months +) include a 4-week guarantee and if we are unsuccessful in securing a replacement candidate, a fair refund policy for your peace of mind.
If the placement is terminated prior to arrival or during the post-arrival guarantee period, Smartaupairs will offer one free replacement au pair search. Refund policy is only applicable for the first placement.
Should we, however, be unable to offer suitable replacement au pair candidates within the first 30 days (from the date of notifying us) the following refund schedule applies should you choose to discontinue the replacement search with smartaupairs.
Unreasonable rejection of replacement candidates (such as amending the new search requirements to be such which are substantially different to the original search) does not automatically warrant a refund.
No refunds apply whereby the placement is terminated outside of the guarantee period or whereby no replacement is requested to be found.
Any credits/discounts offfered are valid for a period of 3 months unless otherwise confirmed.
The maximum refund available within the refund period is 70% of the full placement fee paid.
Refund Policy
| 0-7 days from agreed arrival date | 70% |
| 8-14 days | 45% |
| 15-30 days | 20% |
WE KINDLY ASK TO NOTE THAT ANY REFUNDS ARE SUBJECT TO:
Punctual payment of the placement fee (from the date of issue).
Any pay due for the childcarer has been settled.
An appropriate notice has been given to the childcarer. Placement may be terminated before the expiry of the agreed notice only upon mutual agreement together with the childcarer unless in case of gross misconduct.
The childcarer is not leaving due to conditions which are grossly different to those agreed with the au pair and Smartaupairs.
Whereby there is no reason to assume gross misconduct, and you require your childcarer to leave ahead of the expiry of the notice period of two weeks without the agreement of the childcarer – we ask you as the host family to pay for the pay due for the notice period in addition to the flight cost home.
If Smartaupairs is required to provide the childcarer emergency accommodation in case of unjust termination without notice, the charges will be made to the host family.
Safe & Easy Payment
A separate invoice detailing the final fee is issued upon placement confirmation.
We ask to settle the invoice by bank transfer (details supplied upon invoicing). We do not accept card payments.
We do not accept cheques.
