Can counsellors charge for missed sessions? A UK guide

Short answer

Yes, in private practice you can ask for payment when a session is missed or cancelled late, provided the client knew the arrangement and agreed to it before it applied. There is no single rule on how much notice to ask for or how much to charge. In our reading, the practitioners’ own terms are where the answer lives, and the pattern in them is fairly consistent.

When we looked, we found no guidance from the professional body many counsellors are registered with that sets a missed-session fee. Its ethical framework deals with how you contract and how you treat clients, and leaves the fee to you. We did not retrieve the framework’s wording on fees, so read the current version for the body you are registered with.

Agree it at the start

Almost every practitioner’s terms we read put this in the contract, agreed in the first session. That is the right place for it. It is a practical matter, and it is easier to talk about when nothing has yet gone wrong. Say what the fee for a session is, how much notice you ask for, what you do when notice is short, and what you do in an emergency. Then write it down and give the client a copy.

Contracting is also what makes the arrangement fair. A term that is clear, was shown before it applied, and is not out of proportion to your real loss is much more likely to stand. Terms that are unclear, buried, or that give you wide room to decide the amount after the event are the ones that cause trouble. The same consumer-law fairness rules that apply to a salon’s deposit apply to a private practice’s terms, and our guide on whether a salon can keep a deposit explains them.

What practitioners’ terms typically say

From the terms we read:

• Notice. Twenty-four or forty-eight hours is usual.
• The charge. A session cancelled inside the notice period is treated as one that took place and charged at the full fee. Some charge half when the client declines a replacement slot that was offered.
• Exceptions. Some waive the charge in exceptional circumstances, such as illness or an emergency, and say so in the terms.
• Repeated misses. Some services end the work after more than one missed session.

None of this is a rule. It is what we saw, and it is a sample of a few practitioners and services, not a survey. Choose what suits your practice, and say it the same way to every client.

Twenty-four hours or forty-eight

Twenty-four hours is easier for clients whose work or children make the week hard to predict. Forty-eight gives you time to offer the slot to someone else. Either can be fair. The question to ask yourself is whether a client could comfortably avoid the charge if they wanted to, and whether the amount reflects what the missed hour costs you.

Insurers

If a client’s sessions are paid by an insurer, the insurer may not pay for a missed session, and some practitioners’ terms say that. If you work with insurer-funded clients, state in your terms who pays a missed-session charge.

A paragraph you can adapt

This is written in a counsellor’s voice. Change it to suit how you work.

I ask for 48 hours’ notice if you cannot come to a session. If you let me know in good time, there is nothing to pay and we will find another time. If a session is missed or cancelled with less notice, the session fee is still due, because the hour is held for you and I usually cannot offer it to anyone else. If I offer you another time that week and you decline it, I will ask for half the fee. I understand that illness and emergencies happen. If one of them is the reason, tell me, and I will not ask for the fee. We will agree this together at our first session, and I will give you a copy.

How a saved card helps

Asking a client for money after a missed session can feel awkward, for you and for them. With Hopaby, the client saves a card in the first session, after reading and agreeing your policy, and the card is charged only under the policy they agreed. If you decide to waive a charge, you simply do not take it. The conversation about what is agreed takes place once, at the start, and nothing is taken that was not agreed.

This guide is about money and bookings. Hopaby does not keep your session notes; they stay wherever you keep them now.

This guide has not yet been reviewed by a solicitor. If your practice is unusual, or a client disputes a charge, take advice before you rely on it.